i*.  r 


)ms 


)ms 


INTERNATIONAL  EDUCATION  SERIES 


THE 


EDUCATION  OF  MAN 

i 


BY 

FRIEDRICH  FROEBEL 

V  « 


TEAN8LATED    FKOM    THE    GERMAN    AND    ANNOTATED    BT 

W.  N.  HAILMANN,  A.  M. 

SUPERINTENDENT  OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AT  LA  PORTE,  INDIANA 


NEW  YORK 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1895 


v\' 


COPTKIGHT,   1887 

By  D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


J  0 ' '  I  c  7 


EDITOE'S  PEEFACE. 


This  work  of  Froebel  admits  us  into  his  philosophy, 
and  shows  us  the  fundamental  principles  upon  which  he 
based  the  kindergarten  system.  His^reat  word  is  in- 
ner connectio7i.  There  must  be  an  inner  connection 
between  the  pupil's  mind  and  the  objects  which  he 
studies,  and  this  shall  determine  what  to  study.  There 
must  be  an  inner  connection  in  those  objects  among 
themselves  which  determines  their  succession  and  the 
order  in  which  they  are  to  be  taken  up  in  the  course  of 
instruction.  Finally,  there  is  an  inner  connection  with- 
in the  soul  that  unites  the  faculties  of  feeling,  percep- 
tion, phantasy,  thought,  and  volition,  and  determines 
the  law  of  their  unfolding.  Inner  connection  is  in  fact 
the  law  of  development,  the  principle  of  evolution,  and 
Froebel  is  the  Educational  Keformer  who  has  done  more 
than  all  the  rest  to  make  valid  in  education  what  the 
Germans  call  the  "  developing  method." 

Unlike  Pestalozzi,  Froebel  was  a  philosopher.  The 
great  word  of  the  former  is  immediate  jperception 
(anschauen).  Pestalozzi  struggled  to  make  all  educa- 
tion begin  with  immediate  perception  and  abide  with  it 
for  a  long  period.      Because,  say  his  followers,  sense- 

258271 


Vi  EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 

perception  is  the  source  of  all  our  knowledge.  Froebel 
and  his  disciples  would  defend  the  great  educational  re- 
former by  saying  that  by  beginning  with  immediate 
perception  education  is  sure  of  arousing  the  self-activity 
of  the  pupil.  Froebel's  aim  is  to  educate  the  pupil 
'through  his  self-activity.  This,  we  see  at  once,  goes 
much  further  than  the  cultivation  of  perception.  The 
pupil  unfolds  his  will-power  quite  as  much  as  his  sense- 
perception,  and  by  this  arrives  in  the  surest  way  at  think- 
ing reason,  which  is  the  culmination  of  self-activity. 
The  child  is  to  begin  with  what  he  can  easily  grasp. 
That  is  well.  But  he  must  also  begin  with  that  which 
is  attractive  to  him.  Tke  best  of  all  is  to  begin  with 
that  activity  which,  while  easy  and  attractive,  leads  him 
forward,  develops  all  his  powers,  and  makes  him 
master  of  himself. 

Froebel  goes  down  into  the  genesis  of  objects  of 
study  in  order  to  discover  the  relation  of  such  objects 
to  the  nourishment  of  mind.  The  chemists  and  physi- 
ologists have  ascertained  the  relation  of  bread  and  meat 
to  the  sustenance  of  human  life.  Froebel  has  investi- 
gated the  relation  of  the  child's  activities  in  play  to  the 
growth  of  his  mind.  The  mind  grows  by  self -revelation. 
In  play  the  child  ascertains  what  he  can  do,  and  dis- 
covers his  possibilities  of  will  and  thought  by  exerting 
his  power  spontaneously.  In  work  he  follows  a  task 
prescribed  for  him  by  another,  and  does  not  reveal  his 
own  proclivities  and  inclinations,  but  another's.  In 
play  he  reveals  his  owrufiriginal  power.  But  there  are 
two  selves  in  the  child — one  is  peculiar,  arbitrary,  ca- 
pricious, different  from  all  others,  and  hostile  to  them, 
and  is  founded  on  short-sighted   egotism.     The  other 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE.  vij 

self  is  reason,  common  to  all  humanity,  unselfish  and 
universal,  feeding  on  truth  and  beauty  and  holiness. 
Both  of  these  selves  are  manifested  in  play.  There  is 
revelation  of  bad  as  well  as  of  good.  Froebel,  accord- 
ingly, attempts  to  organize  a  system  of  education  that 
will  unfold  the  rational  self  and  chain  down  the  irra- 
tional. He  wishes  to  cultivate  selfhood  and  repress 
selfishness.  This  must  be  done,  if  done  effectively,  by 
the  pupil  himself.  If  he  does  not  chain  the  demon 
within  him,  external  constraint  will  do  it,  but  at  the 
same  time  place  its  chains  on  the  human  being  who  has 
permitted  his  demon  to  go  loose.  Self-conquest  is  the, 
only  basis  of  true  freedom. 

The  insights  of  Froebel  into  the  unfolding  of  rational . 
selfhood  have  enabled  him  to  organize  the  method  of 
infant  education  to  which  he,  in  1840,  gave  the  name 
of  "  Kindergarten."  In  the  work  here  presented  to  the 
public,  which  was  published  fourteen  years  before  that 
date,  we  have  a  discussion  of  the  essential  ideas  which 
moved  him  in  his  subsequent  experiments  to  discover 
the  methods  and  more  especially  the  ajppliances  to  be 
employed  in  early  education. 

Pestalozzi  uttered  the  noble  sentiment  that  all  should 
be  educated.  All  children  of  men  are  children  of  the 
same  God,  and  all  are  born  for  an  infinite  career.  This 
Christian  doctrine  he  construed  to  mean  that  all  should 
receive  alike  a  school  education,  developing  the  intellect, 
and  giving  it  possession  of  the  power  to  master  the  treas- 
ures of  science — the  wisdom  of  the  race.  This  intellect- 
ual education  it  should  have,  as  well  as  religious  and 
moral  education  and  training  in  a  special  industrial  call- 
ing (education  in  religion,  moraUty,  and  industry  had 


viii  EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 

long  been  conceded).  Froebel  shares  Pestalozzi's  en- 
lightened sentiments,  but  goes  further  in  the  matter  of 
method.  He  invents  an  efficient  means  for  securing  the 
developmelrt  of  the  child  between  the  ages  of  three  and 
six  years — a  period  when  the  child  is  not  yet  ready  for 
the  conventional  studies  of  the  school — a  period  when 
he  is  not  mature  enough  for  work,  and  when  there  is  no 
temptation  on  the  part  of  the"  parent  to  employ  him  at 
any  labor.  The  child  has,  by  the  beginning  of  his  fourth 
year,  begun  to  outgrow  the  merely  family  life,  and  to 
look  at  the  outside  world  with  interest.  He  endeavors 
to  symbolize  life  as  it  appears  to  him  by  plays  and  games. 
The  parents  are  unable  to  give  the  child  within  the 
house  all  the  education  that  he  needs  at  this  period.  He 
needs  association  with  other  children  and  with  teachers 
from  beyond  the  family  circle.  Froebel's  invention  is 
the  happiest  educational  means  for  this  symbolic  epoch 
of  infancy. 

Froebel  sees  better  than  other  educators  tlie  true 
means  of  educating  the  feelings,  and  especially  the  re- 
ligious feelings.  He  reaches  those  feelings  that  are  the 
germs  of  the  intellect  and  will.  It  must  be  always  borne 
in  mind  that  clear  ideas  and  useful  deeds  exist  in  the 
heart  as  undefined  sentiments  before  they  are  born  in 
the  intellect  and  will. 

Froebel  is,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  a  religious  teacher. 
All  who  read  this  book  on  the  Education  of  Man  will 
see  that  he  is  not  only  full  of  faith  in  God,  but  that  his 
intellect  is  likewise  illumined  by  theology.  He  sees  the 
worlds  of  physical  nature  and  human  history  as  firmly 
established  on  a  divine  unity  which  to  him  is  no  ab- 
straction but  a  creative  might  and  a  living  Providence. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE.  ix 

God  to  him  is  infinite  reason.     Pestalozzi  has  the  piety 
of  the  heart,  while  Froebel  has  also  the  piety  of  the  in-  -^ 
tellect,  which  sees  God  as  the  principle  of  truth. 

The  work  before  us  is  divided  substantially  into  two 
pai*ts :  The  first  deals  with  general  principles  and  con- 
siders the  development  of  man  during  infancy  and  boy- 
hood. The  second  part  (beginning  with  §  60)  discusses 
the  chief  subjects  of  instruction,  grouping  them  under 
(1)  religion,  (2)  natural  science  and  mathematics,  (3) 
language,  (4)  art. 

Especial  attention  is  called  to  §§  68-73,  wherein  the 
author  deduces  the  forms  of  the  crystal  exhaustively 
from  the  nature  of  force  and  space,  and  makes  some 
application  of  it  to  botany  and  human  development. 
This  deduction  is  worthy  of  the  fertile  and  suggestive 
mind  of  Schelling  or  Oken.  In  subsequent  sections  he 
asserts  (to  our  no  small  surprise)  that  even  mathematics 
is  the  expression  of  life  as  such. 

But  Parts  I  and  II  (§§  1-44)  contain  the  most  im- 
portant doctrines  of  the  work,  and  deserve  a  thorough 
annual  study  by  every  teacher's  reading  club  in  the 
land.  A  good  plan  for  study  is  to  form  small  classes  of 
three  to  eight  members,  and  meet  weekly  for  two  hours' 
discussion  of  the  text,  sentence  by  sentence.  The  slower 
one  goes  over  the  book,  the  faster  grows  his  original 
power  of  thinking,  and  his  ability  to  read  profound  and 
difficult  writings. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  merit  of  Froebel's  system  is  to 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  it  furnishes  a  deep  philosophy 
for  the  teachers.     Most  pedagogic  works  furnish  only  \/ 
a  code  of  management  for  the  school-room.     Froebel 
gives  a  view  of  the  world  in  substantial  agreement  with 


X  EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 

the  spiritual  systems  of  pliilosopby  that  have  prevaile»d 
in  the  world.  A  view  of  the  world  is  a  perpetual  stimu- 
lant to  thought— always  prompting  one  to  reflect  on  the 
immediate  fact  or  event  before  him,  and  to  discover  its 
relation  to  the  ultimate  principle  of  the  universe.  It 
is  the  only  antidote  for  the  constant  tendency  of  the 
teacher  to  sink  into  a  dead  formalism,  the  effect  of  too 
much  iteration  and  of  the  practice  of  adjusting  knowl- 
edge to  the  needs  of  the  feeble-minded  by  perpetual  ex- 
planation of  what  is  already  simple  ad  nauseam  for  the 
mature  intelligence  of  the  teacher.  It  produces  a  sort  of 
pedagogical  cramp  in  the  soul  for  which  there  is  no 
remedy  like  a  philosophical  view  of  the  world,  unless, 
perhaps,  it  be  the  study  of  the  greatest  poets,  Shake- 
speare, Dante,  or  Homer.  It  is,  I  am  persuaded,  this 
fact — that  Froebel  refers  his  principles  to  a  philosophic 
view  of  the  world — ^that  explains  the  almost  fanatical  zeal 
of  his  followers,  and,  what  is  far  more  significant,  the 
fact  that  those  who  persistently  read  his  works  are  al- 
ways growing  in  insight  and  in  power  of  higher  achieve- 
ment. 

W.  T.  Harris. 

CoNOOED,  Mass.,  August,  1887. 


TEAKSLATOE'S  PEEFAOE. 


"  The  Education  of  Man  "  appeared  in  1826,  under 
the  title :  Die  MenscKenerzieliung^  die  Erzieliungs- 
Unterrichts-  und  LehrJcunst,  angestrebt  in  der  allge- 
meinen  deutschen  Erziehungsanstalt  zu  Keilhau,  darge- 
stellt  V071  dem  Vorsteher  derselben^  F.  W,  A.  Froehel. 
1.  Band  his  zum  hegonnenen  Knabenalter.  Keilhau, 
1826.  Yerlag  der  Anstalt.  Leipzig  in  Commission 
hei  a  F.  Doerffling.    497  S.^ 

The  very  title-page  reveals  the  history  of  the  growth 
and  development  of  this  remarkable  book.  Similarly 
we  read  in  the  expressive  countenance  of  a  mature  man 
or  woman  the  life  history  of  its  possessor. 

Froebel  established  the  Educational  Institute  at 
Keilhau,  a  small  village  of  about  one  hundred  inhabit- 
ants, in  1817.  It  was  not  a  business  enterprise  in  any 
sense  of  the  word.  Yielding  to  the  entreaties  of  his 
widowed  sister-in-law,  he  had  given  up  excellent  exter- 

*  The  Education  of  Man,  the  Art  of  Education,  Instruction, 
and  Training,  aimed  at  in  the  Educational  Institute  at  Keilhau, 
written  by  its  Principal,  F.  W.  A.  Froebel.  Volume  I ;  to  the  begin- 
ning of  Boyhood.  Keilhau,  1826.  Published  by  the  Institute. 
Sold  in  Commission  at  Leipzig  by  C.  F.  Doerffling.    497  pp. 


xii  TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE, 

nal  prospects  in  Berlin  in  order  to  undertake  the  educa- 
tion of  her  three  bojs.  To  these,  two  other  nephews 
were  added,  and  Middendorff  had  brought  a  younger 
brother  of  Langethal,  who  himseK  joined  the  little  band 
a  few  months  later.  Thus  the  six  boys  and  the  three 
high-souled  men — Froebel,  Middendorff,  and  Lange- 
thal— constituted  the  nucleus  of  this  remarkable  enter- 
prise, established  wholly  in  the  interest  of  the  new 
educational  ideas  of  Froebel. 

In  spite  of  many  difficulties  and  vicissitudes  that 
would  have  discouraged  less  faithful  men,  however,  the 
institute  grew  even  beyond  the  dimensions  originally 
planned  for  it.  Froebel  had  intended  to  limit  it  to 
twenty-four  pupils  and  the  three  teachers  mentioned, 
but  circumstances  seemed  to  render  it  desirable  or  neces- 
sary to  admit  a  greater  number  of  pupils.  Possibly 
this  very  success  aroused  the  hostility  of  low-minded 
men,  which  led  to  persecution  by  the  Prussian  Govern- 
ment on  political  and  religious  grounds,  and  the  scatter- 
ing of  the  three  friends ;  and  would  have  submerged 
the  institute  itself  had  it  not  been  saved  by  the  tact  of 
Barop,  who  joined  the  enterprise  in  1823,  and  assumea 
its  control  in  1833.  Froebel  himself  had  left  it  in 
1831. 

The  persecutions  on  the  part  of  the  Prussian  Gov- 
ernment induced  the  local  duke  to  send  Superintendent 
Zech  to  inspect  the  institution.  The  report  of  this  visit 
throws  so  much  light  upon  the  character  of  Froebel's 
work  and  aims  that  I  translate  its  essential  portions  in 
this  place.     He  says,  among  other  things  : 

"  Both  days  which  I  passed  in  the  institute,  almost 
as  one  of  its  members,  as  it  were,  were  in  every  way 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE.  xiii 

pleasant  to  me,  higlilj  interesting,  and  instructive. 
Tliey  increased  and  strengthened  mj  respect  for  the 
institute  as  a  whole,  as  well  as  for  its  director,  who  up- 
held and  maintained  it  amid  the  storms  of  care  and 
w^ant  with  rare  persistence  and  with  the  purest  and 
most  unselfish  zeal.  It  is  most  pleasing  to  feel  the  in- 
fluence which  goes  out  from  the  buoyant,  vigorous, 
free,  and  yet  orderly  spirit  that  pervades  this  insti- 
tution, both  in  the  lessons  and  at  other  times. 

"  I  found  here  what  is  never  seen  in  actual  practical 
life,  a  thoroughly  and  intimately  united  family  of  at 
least  sixty  members,  living  in  quiet  harmony,  all  show- 
ing that  they  gladly  perform  the  duties  of  their  very 
different  positions ;  a  family  held  together  by  the  strong 
ties  of  mutual  confidence,  and  in  which,  consequently, 
every  member  seeks  the  interest  of  the  whole,  where 
all  things  thrive  in  joy  and  love,  apparently  without 
effort. 

"  With  great  respect  and  real  affection  all  turn  to  the 
principal ;  the  little  five-year-old  children  hang  about 
his  knees,  while  his  friends  and  assistants  hear  and 
honor  his  advice  with  the  confidence  due  to  his  insight 
and  experience,  and  to  his  indefatigable  zeal  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  institution ;  and  he  himself  seems  to  love 
in  brotherliness  and  friendship  his  fellow-workers,  as 
the  props  and  pillars  of  his  life-work,  which  to  him  is 
truly  a  holy  work. 

"  It  is  evident  that  a  feeling  of  such  perfect  har- 
mony and  unity  among  the  teachers  must  in  every  way 
exert  the  most  salutary  influence  on  the  discipline  and 
instruction,  and  on  the  pupils  themselves.  The  love 
and  respect  in  which  the  latter  hold  all  their  teachers  is 


xiv  TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE. 

shown  in  a  degree  of  attention  and  obedience  that  ren- 
ders needless  ahnost  all  disciplinary  severity.  During 
the  two  days  I  heard  no  reproving  word  from  the  lips 
of  the  teachers,  neither  in  the  joyous  tumult  of  inter- 
mission nor  during  the  time  of  instruction ;  the  merri- 
est confusion  with  which,  after  instruction,  all  sought 
the  play-ground,  was  free  from  every  indication  of  ill- 
breeding,  of  rude  and  unmannerly,  and,  most  of  all,  of 
immoral  conduct.  Perfectly  free  and  equal  among 
themselves,  reminded  of  their  privileges  of  rank  and 
birth  neither  by  their  attire  nor  by  their  names — for 
each  pupil  is  called  only  by  his  Christian  name — the 
pupils,  great  and  small,  live  in  joyousness  and  serenity, 
freely  intermingling,  as  if  each  obeyed  only  his  own 
law,  hke  the  sons  of  one  father ;  and  while  all  seem  un- 
restrained, and  use  their  powers  and  carry  on  their  plays 
in  freedom,  they  are  under  the  constant  supervision  of 
their  teachers,  who  either  observe  them  or  take  part  in 
their  plays,  equally  subject  with  them  to  the  laws  of 
the  game. 

"Every  latent  power  is  aroused  in  so  large  and 
united  a  family,  and  finds  a  place  where  it  can  exert  it- 
self ;  every  inclination  finds  an  equal  or  similar  inclina- 
tion, more  clearly  pronounced  than  itself,  by  which  it 
can  strengthen,  itself ;  but  no  impropriety  can  thrive,  for 
whoever  would  commit  some  excess  punishes  himself, 
the  others  no  longer  need  him,  he  is  simply  left  out  of 
the  circle. ' ,;  If  he  would  return,  he  must  learn  to  adapt 
himself,  he  must  become  a  better  boy.  Thus  the  boys 
guide,  reprove,  punish,  educate,  cultivate  one  another 
unconsciously,  by  the  most  varied  incitements  to  activ- 
ity and  by  mutual  restriction. 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE.  ^ 

"  The  agreeable  impression  of  the  institution  as  a 
whole  is  increased  bj  the  domestic  order  which  is 
everywhere  manifest,  and  which  alone  can  give  co- 
herence to  so  large  a  family  by  a  punctuality  free  from 
all  pedantry,  and  by  a  cleanliness  which  is  rarely  met  in 
so  high  a  degree  in  educational  institutions. 

"  This  vigorous  and  free,  yet  well-ordered,  outer  life, 
has  its  perfect  counterpart  in  the  inner  life  of  heart  and 
mind  that  is  here  aroused  and  established.  Instruction 
leads  the  five-year- old  child  simply  to  find  himself,  to 
differentiate  himself  from  external  things,  and  to  dis- 
tinguish these  among  themselves,  to  know  clearly  what 
he  sees  in  his  nearest  surroundings,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  to  designate  it  with  the  right  words,  to  enjoy  his 
first  knowledge  as  the  first  contribution  toward  his 
future  intellectual  treasure.  Self-activity  of  the  mind 
is  the  first  law  of  instruction  ;  .  .  .  slowly,  continuous- 
ly, and  in  logical  succession  it  proceeds  .  .  .  from  the 
simple  to  the  complex,  from  the  concrete  to  the  ab- 
stract, so  well  adapted  to  the  child  and  his  needs,  that 
he  learns  as  eagerly  as  he  plays ;  nay,  I  noticed  how  the 
little  children,  whose  lesson  had  been  somewhat  delayed 
by  my  arrival,  came  in  tears  to  the  principal  of  the  in- 
stitution and  asked  '  should  they  to-day  always  play  and 
never  learn,  and  were  only  the  big  boys  to  be  taught 
to-day  ? ' 

"  In  the  last  winter  semester  the  pupils  of  the  high- 
est grade  of  the  classical  course  read  Horace,  Plato, 
Phaedrus,  and  Demosthenes,  and  translated  Cornelius 
Kepos  into  Greek.  On  the  day  of  my  first  visit,  when 
I  looked  more  closely  into  the  elementary  instruction,  I 
could  not  suppress  the  wish  that  the  instruction  might 

2  y 


XVI 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE. 


be  sucli  in  all  elementary  schools.  'Now,  when  I  in- 
spected the  classical  instruction,  which  has  been  in 
operation  fully  only  since  1820,  I  was  compelled  to  ad- 
mire the  progress  and  the  intense  thoroughness  of  the 
school  in  this  short  time ;  .  .  .  and  I  was  as  thoroughly 
gratified  by  the  instruction  as  I  was  by  the  discipline. 

"  My  experience  was  the  same  as  that  of  all  impar- 
tial examiners  of  the  institution.  Of  all  strangers  who 
had  visited  and  inspected  the  institution,  and  whose 
opinion  I  heard,  none  left  without  being  pleased,  and 
many  whom  I  deem  specially  competent  came  away 
full  of  enthusiasm,  and  fully  appreciated  the  high  aim 
of  the  institution,  and  the  perfectly  natural  method  it 
follows  in  order  to  attain  its  object  as  surely  and  com- 
pletely as  possible.  This  object  is  by  no  means  mere 
knowledge,  but  the  free,  self -active  development  of  the 
mind  from  within.  Nothing  is  added  from  without 
except  to  enlighten  the  mind,  to  strengthen  the  pupil's 
power,  and  to  add  to  his  joy  by  enhancing  his  con- 
sciousness of  growing  power.  The  principal  of  the  in- 
stitution beholds  with  enthusiasm  the  nobility  that 
adorns  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  all-sidedly  developed 
human  being  ;  in  the  high  destiny  of  such  a  man  he  has 
found  the  aim  of  his  work,  which  is  to  develop  the 
whole  man,  whose  inner  being  is  established  between 
true  insight  and  true  religiousness  as  its  poles.  Every 
pupil  is  to  unfold  this  from  his  own  inner  life,  and  is  to 
become  in  the  serene  consciousness  of  his  own  power 
what  this  power  may  enable  him  to  become. 

"  What  the  pupils  know  is  not  a  shapeless  mass,  but 
has  form  and  life,  and  is,  if  at  all  possible,  immediately 
applied  in  life.     Each  one  is,  as  it  were,  familiar  with 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE.  XVli 

himself ;  there  is  not  a  trace  of  thoughtless  repetition 
of  the  words  of  others,  nor  of  vague  knowledge  among 
any  of  the  pupils.  What  tliey  express  they  have  in- 
wardly seen,  and  is  enounced  as  from  inner  necessity 
with  clearness  and  decision.  Even  the  objections  of 
the  teachers  can  not  change  their  opinion  until  they 
have  clearly  seen  their  error.  Whatever  they  take  up 
they  must  be  able  to  think ;  what  they  can  not  think 
they  do  not  take  up.  Even  dull  grammar,  with  its  host 
of  rules,  begins  to  live  with  them,  inasmuch  as  they  are 
taught  to  study  each  language  with  reference  to  the 
history,  habits,  and  character  of  the  respective  people. 
Thus  seen,  the  institution  is  a  gymnasium  in  the  fullest 
sense,  for  all  that  is  done  becomes  mental  gymnastics. 

"  Happy  the  children  who  can  be  taught  here  from 
earliest  school-life  (six  years) !  If  all  schools  could  be 
transformed  into  such  educational  institutions,  they 
would  send  out  in  a  few  generations  a  people  intel- 
lectually stronger,  and,  in  spite  of  original  depravity, 
purer,  nobler." 

I  have  reproduced  this  documentary  evidence  be- 
cause I  desired  to  show  that  Froebel  was  not  a  dreamer 
nor  an  empty  enthusiast,  but  that  his  "  Education  of 
Man,"  like  all  his  other  writings  of  this  and  subsequent 
periods,  flowed  from  the  fullness  of  an  earnest,  practical 
life,  that  struggled  in  every  way  to  utter  itself  pro- 
ductively, creatively,  in  full,  teeming  deeds. 

Again,  I  desired  to  show  once  for  all  that  his  educa- 
tional principles  and  methods,  like  his  practical  educa- 
tional activity,  were  not  confined  to  the  earliest  years 
of  childhood,  but  embraced  the  entire  impressionable 
period  of  human  life.     It  is  true,  the  succeeding  vol- 


xviii  TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE. 

limes  of  the  "  Education  of  Man  "  were  never  written ; 
not,  however,  because  they  were  not  clear  and  complete 
in  Froebel's  mind  when  he  gave  us  his  first  volume,  but 
rather  because  he  was  too  much  taken  up  with  efforts  to 
live  them  out  practically  against  untold  hindrances. 

The  report  of  Commissioner  Zeh  averted,  indeed, 
the  immediate  and  forcible  dissolution  of  the  Keilhau 
Institute,  but  it  could  not  undo  the  indirect  evil  effects 
of  the  Prussian  persecution.  By  this  the  little  colony 
was  reduced  to  straits  that  placed  book-publishing  and 
even  book- writing  beyond  the  power  of  its  members. 
It  is  true,  in  the  very  next  year  after  Commissioner 
Zeh's  report  (in  1826),  the  first  volume  appeared.  Yet 
the  institute  had  not  enough  popularity  left  to  induce  a 
publisher  to  assume  the  risk  of  the  work,  although  there 
was  still  enough  substance  and  faith  in  the  little  band 
to  enable  it  to  do  this  independently. 

Immediately  after  the  publication,  however,  affairs 
rapidly  grew  worse.  In  1829  the  number  of  pupils  had 
been  reduced  from  sixty  to  five,  and  in  1831  Froebel 
was  driven  from  his  post,  although  the  enterprise  was 
still  kept  up  in  the  hands  of  friends. 

The  greatness  of  Froebel's  soul  appears  at  no  time 
in  a  brighter  fight  than  it  does  in  these  days  of  trouble. 
On  the  first  day  of  April,  1829,  he  wrote  :  "  I  look  u}X)n 
my  work  as  unique  in  our  time,  as  necessary  for  it,  and 
as  salutary  for  all  time.  In  its  action  and  reaction,  it 
will  give  to  mankind  all  that  it  needs  and  seeks  in 
every  direction  of  its  tendencies  and  being.  I  have  no 
complaint  whatever  that  others  should  think  differently ; 
I  can  endure  them  ;  I  even  can — as  I  have  proved — live 
with  them;  but  I  can  not  have  with  them  the  same 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE.  xix 

aim,  the  same  purpose  in  life.  However,  this  is  not 
my  fault,  but  theirs  ;  I  do  not  cut  them  off,  they  do  it 
themselves.'' 

What  high  and  perfect  faith  speaks  from  these 
words !  'No  wonder  if  his  contemporaries,  still  groping 
in  the  darker  depths  of  the  valley,  failed  to  see  him  on 
his  height,  and,  still  more,  to  appreciate  his  higher  aspi- 
rations. JS'o  wonder  if  even  now  many,  who  have 
laboriously  climbed  half  way  up  the  eminence,  sit  down 
in  weariness  and  despondency,  turn  their  backs  upon 
his  light,  and  gaze  longingly  down  upon  the  rank  weeds 
that  gave* them  sustenance  below.  Poor  creatures !  the 
light  that  holds  blessedness  they  contemn  because  of 
their  weakness,  and  the  few  imperishable  rays  that 
have  entered  their  souls  have  irretrievably  lifted  them 
out  of  the  darkness  they  cherish. 

It  would  be  a  most  grateful  task  to  present  in  this 
preface  a  succinct  review  of  Froebel's  great  plan  of 
education  ;  to  show  it  in  its  complete  unity  and  perfect 
harmony ;  to  sketch  how  he  receives  the  almost  uncon- 
scious child  from  the  hands  of  the  Eternal  and  leads  him 
surely  and  persistently  to  eager,  conscious  unity  with  the 
infinite  source  of  life  and  being — how  in  earliest  child- 
hood he  kindles  the  religious  sense — the  sense  of  com- 
plete, all-sided,  responsible  kinship  with  all  created 
things — and  gently  fans  it  into  a  mighty  blaze  of  uni- 
versal good-will — ^how  skillfully  he  enables  the  child  to 
gather  golden  harvests  of  knowledge  and  skill  from  the 
burdened  fields  of  experience  and  life,  and  again  to  sow 
these  in  an  intensely  creative  life  of  unwearied,  vigor- 
ous well-doing  for  the  sustenance  and  uplifting  of  gen- 
erations to  come — how   completely  he  blends  in   the 


XX  TRANSLATOE'S  PREFACE. 

bosom  of  a  holy  family  the  interests  of  the  individual, 
of  fellowmen,  of  mankind,  and  leads  all  to  an  ever- 
creative  worship  of  an  ever-creative  God — how  he  im- 
parj;s  to  his  pupils  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  inner 
connection  and  oneness  of  all  things,  and  enables  them 
to  control  and  handle  in  life  and  for  life  all  they  know  of 
life — how,  thus,  he  "tills  them  with  an  eager  thirst  for  ever 
wider  and  higher  knowledge  and  with  a  holy  hunger 
for  ever  broader  and  deeper  efficiency  in  whatever 
practical  calling  may  be  theirs — and  how,  by  showing 
the  intrinsic  importance  and  indispensableness  of  every 
calling  and  occupation,  he  plants  in  every  human  being 
the  feeling  th^  on  his  efficiency  depends  the  welfare  of 
the  whole,  a  sense  of  inner,  responsible  manhood  which 
is  the  measure  of  true  worth  in  every  station  of  life,  a 
practical,  real  Christianity  that  holds  every  human  be- 
ing, as  a  beloved  manifestation  of  The  Man,  equally  in 
the  bosom  of  the  Father.  To  the  reader,  however,  who 
will  thoughtfully  and  reverentially  peruse  the  book, 
such  a  review  would  bring  little  help,  inasmuch  as  the 
book  shows  all  these  things  more  clearly  and  powerfully 
than  such  a  review  could  do. 

In  1836,  Froebel,  in  a  remarkable  essay  on  "  The  Ee- 
newal  of  Life,"  pointed  to  the  United  States  of  America 
as  the  country  best  fitted,  by  virtue  of  its  spirit  of  free- 
dom, true  Christianity,  and  pure  family  life,  to  receive  his 
educational  message  and  to  profit  thereby.  To  a  large 
extent,  his  prophecy  has  already  been  realized.  May  this 
translation  help  to  hasten  and  strengthen  its  still  further 
and  fuller  realization ! 

W.  N.  HAILMANN. 

La  Porte,  Ind.,  August^  1887. 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX. 


I.  Groundwork  of  the  Whole. — §  1.  Universal  law;  unity; 
God.  §  2.  Destiny  and  life-work  of  man ;  education  defined.  §  'd^ 
Science  of  education  ;  theory  and  practice.  §  4.  Value  of  wisdom ; 
need  of  education.  §  5.  Object  of  education.  §  6.  Method  of  educa- 
tion ;  law  of  inverse  inference ;  misunderstandings.  §  7.  Originally 
passive  character  of  education.  §  S^Development  needs  freedom ; 
dangers  of  mandatory  education ;  proper  time  for  mandatory  educa- 
tion. §  9.  Free  self-activity,  a  requirement  of  the  divine  origin  of 
man.  §  10.  Human  perfection  can  serve  as  a  model  only  in  spirit. 
§  11.  Jesus,  as  an  exemplar,  calls  for  free,  self-active  development. 
§  12.  Faith  and  insight  render  the  ideal  mandatory ;  law  of  opposites 
in  good  education ;  education  itself  must  obey  law  and  banish  des- 
potism. §  13.  Teacher  and  pupil  equally  subject  to  the  law  of  right. 
§  14.  Law  of  spiritual  development.  §  15.  Man  as  a  child  of  God ;  as 
a  child  of  humanity.  §  16.  Humanity  developed  in  successive  indi- 
vidual human  beings.  §  17.  Duty  of  parents ;  destiny  of  child.  §  18. 
Trinity  of  relatpns — unity,  individuality,  diversity.  §  19.*  Need  of 
early  educationc  self -activity.  §  20.  Force,  the  child's  first  utter- 
ance; joy  and  sorrow ;  willfulness;  value  of  small  suffering;  stage 
of  infancy;  need  of  adjustment  of  surroundings;  the  first  smile. 
g  21.  Sense  of  community,  as  first  germ  of  religious  spirit ;  the 
mother's  prayer ;  value  of  religious  spirit.  §  22.  Continuity  of  de- 
velopment in  the  child's  life.  §  23.  Cr'eativeness ;  productive  work  ; 
singleness  of  purpose ;  relentlessness  of  law ;  need  of  industrial  work 
in  education ;  temperance. 

II.  Man  in  the  Period  of  Earliest  Childhood. — §  24.  The 
child  finding  his  individuality ;  agreement  between  the  child's  de- 


xxii  ANALYTICAL   INDEX. 

velopment  and  all  development ;  dawn  of  reason  ;  agreement  between 
the  development  of  the  individual  and  that  of  the  race.  §  25.  De- 
velopment of  the  senses;  law  of  connection  of  contrasts.  §  26. 
Order  of  the  senses.  §  27.  Muscular  development ;  standing ;  play- 
ing with  his  limbs ;  false  habits ;  need  of  watchfulness.  §  28.  Be- 
ginning of  childhood ;  language ;  the  family.  §  29.  Importance  of 
childhood ;  play  and  speech.  §  30.  Play ;  nature  of  play ;  impor- 
tance of  play ;  unity  of  child  and  surroundings.  §  31.  Food  of  the 
child ;  simplicity  necessary ;  dangers  of  over-stimulation ;  food  only 
for  nourishment.  §  32.  Clothing  of  the  child.  §  33.  Object  of  pa- 
rental care ;  maternal  instinct  is  not  sufficient ;  sketch  of  the 
mother's  work ;  arousing  self -consciousness ;  study  of  surroundings ; 
arousing  self -activity :  nursery  of  the  "  worldly-wise  "  mother ;  arous- 
ing the  sense  of  community ;  value  of  rhythmic  movements ;  spon- 
taneous association  of  ideas.  §  34.  Learning  to  stand  and  walk ; 
collecting  material.  §  35.  Studying  the  material ;  seeking  the  inner 
nature;  parental  indifference  crushes  development;  pernicious  in- 
fluence of  our  short-sightedness.  §  36.  First  attempts  at  drawing ; 
finding  the  chalk ;  first  sketches ;  linear  representation.  §  37.  Prog- 
ress of  drawing-work;  parents  need  not  be  artists;  need  of  de- 
scriptive words  ;  word  and  drawing.  §  38.  Drawing  leads  to  num- 
ber ;  development  of  number-notions ;  need  of  objects.  §  39.  Wealth 
of  the  child's  world.  §  40.  Helping  father  and  mother;  leading 
the  horse ;  attending  the  goslings ;  the  little  gardener ;  the  forest- 
er's son ;  the  blacksmith,  etc. ;  harshness ;  fostering  independence ; 
joy  of  child-guidance ;  development  of  industry.  §  41.  Our  own 
dullness.  §  42.  "  Let  us  live  with  our  children."  §  43.  Importance 
of  speech;  importance  of  inner  unity.  §  44.  Misunderstandings 
from  nearness  of  things ;  difficulty  of  self-knowledge ;  transition  to 
boyhood. 

III.  The  Boyhood  of  Man. — §  45.  Boyhood  defined;  instruc- 
tion ;  school  defined.  §  46.  Objects  of  the  school.  §  47.  Will  de- 
fined ;  starting-point ;  development  of  boyhood  rests  on  childhood. 
^  48.  Importance  of  the  family ;  the  family  a  type  of  life.  §  49. 
Transition  from  play  to  work;  formative  instinct;  desire  to  help 
the  parents ;  danger  of  repulsion ;  indolence  results ;  inquisitiveness ; 
love  of  difficulties ;  climbing ;  exploring  caves ;  the  garden ;  love  of 
water ;  love  of  plastic  material ;  building ;  sense  of  proprietorship ; 
common  endeavor;  group-work  in  school;  at  the  brook;  garden- 
ing;   trials  of  strength  and  skill;  sense  of  power;   play-grounds; 


ANALYTICAL   INDEX.  xxiii 

home-industry ;  love  of  the  past ;  love  of  tales  and  stories ;  love  of 
song ;  symbolism  of  play.  §  50.  Actual  boy-life  very  different  from 
this ;  causes  of  difference.  §  51.  Man  essentially  good.  §  52.  Nature 
and  origin  of  falsehood ;  how  to  overcome  evil  with  good.  §  58.  In- 
fluence of  common  sympathy;  faults  of  ignorance;  the  boy  and 
the  wig ;  the  boy  and  the  bowl ;  the  broken  window ;  the  boy  and 
the  pigeon  ;  how  boys  are  made  bad ;  false  conversion ;  the  boy  and 
the  beetle ;  ravages  of  harsh  words.  §  54.  Sins  against  childhood. 
§  55.  Seeking  unity. 

IV.  Man  as  a  Scholar  or  Pupil. — §  56.  Aim  of  the  school ;  aim 
of  instruction;  the  schoolmaster;  the  faith  of  boyhood;  spirit  of 
the  school ;  inner  power  of  boyhood ;  playing  with  this  inner  power ; 
the  spirit  makes  the  school.  §  57.  Need  of  schools.  §  58.  What 
shall  schools  teach  ?    §  59.  Mind ;  nature ;  language. 

V.  Chief  Groups  of  Subjects  of  Instruction. — A.  Religion 
and  Religious  Instruction. — §  60.  Religion  defined ;  religious  instruc- 
tion ;  assumption  of  some  degree  of  religion;  difficulty  of  under- 
standing original  unity }  the  thinker  and  the  thought ;  father  and 
son ;  spiritual  unity.  §  61.  Essence  of  Christianity ;  parental  and 
filial  relations,  the  key ;  Sonship  of  Jesus ;  Christian  religion  ;  three- 
fold manifestation  of  God — unity,  individuality,  diversity. 

B.  Natural  Science  and  Mathematics. — §  63.  Nature  and  relig- 
ion. §  63.  Nature  and  art ;  immortality  of  the  spirit ;  nature  as 
God's  work;  nature  a  revelation  of  God.  §64.  Importance  of  na- 
ture-study to  boyhood;  excursions;  loss  of  sensitiveness.  §  65. 
Nature  in  inner  and  outer  contemplation.  §  66.  External  view  un- 
connected. §  67.  The  boy's  desire  to  find  unity :  character  of  force ; 
the  source  of  all  things.  §  68.  Definition  of  force ;  force  and  mat- 
ter ;  spherical  tendency  of  force.  §  69.  The  sphere ;  origin  of  diver- 
sity in  form  and  structure.  §  70.  Crystallization ;  the  crystal  the 
first  result  of  simply  active  force.  §  71.  Analogies  between  human 
and  crystalline  development.  §  72.  Laws  of  crystallogenic  force ; 
the  cube;  the  octahedron;  the  tetrahedron;  the  "fall"  of  the  oc- 
tahedron ;  forms  derived  from  the  cube,  etc. ;  the  rhombohedron 
and  derivative  forms ;  compound  and  cumulative  forms ;  organized 
material,  j^  73.  Living  force ;  vegetable  and  animal  forms  ;  binary 
plants  ;  quinary  relations ;  relation  of  animals  to  plants ;  law  of  op- 
position ;  law  of  equipoise.  §  74.  Man,  the  first  step  of  spiritual  de- 
velopment ;  evil  effects  of  studying  nature  fragmentarily.  §  75. 
Nature,  a  living  organism  ;  the  sun ;  technical  terms  not  essential ; 


xxiv  ANALYTICAL   INDEX. 

technical  knowledge  not  essential ;  mission  of  colleges  ;  God  erery- 
where;  natural  objects,  a  Jacob's  ladder;  number,  as  guide;  cor- 
rectness of  the  boy's  instinct ;  honest  seeking.  §  76.  Mathematics, 
the  fixed  point  for  nature-study ;  mathematics,  a  Christian  science ; 
mathematics,  the  expression  of  life,  as  such ;  all  forms  proceed  from 
the  sphere ;  number,  form,  extent ;  mathematics  and  mind. 

C.  Language. — §  77.  Relation  to  religion  and  nature ;  their  unity. 
§  78.  Language  defined.  §  79.  Language,  a  product  of  the  human 
mind;  born  in  consciousness;  its  mediatory  character ;  significance 
of  word-elements ;  roots  not  adventitious ;  illustrations  of  the  mean- 
ing of  letters  and  sounds.  §80.  Rhythmic  law  of  language;  evil 
effects  of  its  neglect ;  elocutionary  tricks.  §  81.  Historical  develop- 
ment of  writing;  pictorial  and  symbolic  writing;  presupposes  a 
rich  life ;  satisfies  an  inner  want.  §  82.  Forms  of  letters  not  arbi- 
trary; 0  and  S.  §  83.  Reading  naturally  follows;  value  of  the 
alphabet ;  the  use  of  letters  presupposes  knowledge. 

D.  Art  and  Objects  of  Art. — §  84.  Art,  the  representation  of 
inner  life,  i^  85.  Its  relation  to  religion,  nature,  and  language ;  its 
materials ;  art,  a  universal  talent ;  mediatory  character  of  drawing 
and  poetry  ;  Christian  art. 

VI.  Connection  between  School  and  Family,  and  the  Sub- 
jects OF  Instruction  it  implies. — A.  General  Considerations. — 
§  86.  Union  of  family  and  school ;  mere  extraneous  knowledge  per- 
nicious ;  value  of  the  family ;  need  of  soul-training.  §  87.  Subjects 
of  study  enumerated ;  domestic  duties  and  industrial  work. 

B.  Particular  Considerations. — a.  Cultivation  of  Religious 
Sense. — §  88.  Religious  instruction,  based  on  sense  of  community ; 
spiritual  union  of  father  and  son ;  religious  intuition  of  boyhood ; 
need  of  religious  experience;  errors  of  dogmatism;  contemplation 
of  the  tree ;  renunciation ;  pernicious  effect  of  promising  rewards ; 
consciousness  of  duty  well  done.  §  89.  Memorizing  of  religious 
maxims;  prayer. 

b.  Knowledge  and  Cultivation  of  the  Body. — §  90.  Respect  for  the 
body;  physiology. 

c.  Nature  and  Surroundings. — §  91.  To  be  studied  in  natural 
connection ;  from  the  near  to  the  remote  ;  method  and  course  illus- 
trated ;  necessary  ramifications ;  additional  illustrations ;  natural 
history ;  physics ;  sociology ;  objections  met. 

d.  Memorizing  Poems. — ^  92.  Memory-gems;  song;  illustration 
of  singing-lessons. 


ANALYTICAL   INDEX.  XXV 

e.  Language- Exercises,  based  on  the  Observation  of  Nature. — 
§  93.  Language-exercises  and  grammatical  exercises  con^ pared ;  illus- 
tration of  language-exercises ;  physics  and  chemistry  ;  mathematics ; 
additional  illustrations. 

/.  Outward  Corporeal  Representation. — §  94.  Importance  of  outer 
representation;  superiority  of  manual  over  verbal  expression;  our 
blindness  due  to  false  education ;  service  of  God  or  man ;  building ; 
tablets ;  lines ;  character  of  building-material ;  modeling. 

g.  Drawing  in  the  Network. — §  95.  Formation  of  network ;  square 
and  triangle ;  avoid  difficulty  in  work ;  size  of  square  ;  essentials  of 
the  course ;  details  of  the  course ;  invention ;  needs  of  the  school. 

h.  Study  of  Colors  and  Painting. — §  96.  Color  and  light ;  varie- 
gation; its  significance  to  boyhood;  color  and  form;  essentials  of 
color-study ;  naming  the  colors ;  painting  natural  objects ;  illustra- 
tions of  lessons. 

i.  Plays. — g  97.  Three  kinds  of  plays ;  they  imply  inner  life  and 
vigor. 

j.  Stories  and  Tales. — §  98.  Fondness  of  boys  for  stories ;  legends 
and  fairy-tales ;  love  of  repetition ;  praise  of  the  genuine  story-tell- 
er ;  no  need  of  practical  applications  and  moralizing ;  connection  of 
stories  with  experience. 

k.  Excursions  and  Walks. — §  99.  In  search  of  oneness  of  nature 
and  life;  mountains  and  valleys ;  living  things ;  observation. 

I.  Arithmetic. — §  100.  Formation,  reduction,  and  comparison  of 
numbers ;  course  of  instruction  indicated. 

m.  Form- Lessons. — §  101.  Outlines  of  work. 

n.  Grammatical  Exercises. — §  102.  They  consider  the  word  as 
material  of  representation ;  words,  syllables,  sounds ;  suggestions. 

0.  Writing. — §  103.  Suggestions  of  method. 

p.  Reading. — §  104.  Suggestions  of  method. 

VII.  Conclusion. — ^  105.  All-sided  development  the  aim ;  objec- 
tions met ;  creative  freedom. 


THE   EDUCATION  OP  MAN. 


GROUNDWORK  OF  THE  WHOLE. 

§  1.  In  all  things  there  lives  and  reigns  an  eternal 
law.  To  him  whose  mind,  through  disposition  and 
faith,  is  filled,  penetrated,  and  quickened  with  the  ne- 
cessity that  this  can  not  possibly  be  otherwise,  as  well  as 
to  him  whose  clear,  calm  mental  vision  beholds  the 
inner  in  the  outer  and  through  the  outer,  and  sees  the 
outer  proceeding  with  logical  necessity  from  the  essence 
of  the  inner,  this  law  has  been  and  is  enounced  with 
equal  clearness  and  distinctness  in  nature  (the  external), 
in  the  spirit  (the  internal),  and  in  life  which  unites  the 
two.  This  all-controlling  law  is  necessarily  based  on 
an  all-pervading,  energetic,  living,  self-conscious,  and 
hence  eternal  Unity.  This  fact,  as  well  as  the  Unity 
itself,  is  again  vividly  recognized,  either  through  faith 
or  through  insight,  with  equal  clearness  and  comprehen- 
siveness ;  therefore,  a  quietly  observant  human  mind,  a 
thoughtful,  clear  human  intellect,  has  never  failed,  and 
will  never  fail,  to  recognize  this  Unity. 

This  Unity  is  God.  All  things  have  come  from  the 
Divine  Unity,  from  God,  and  have  their  origin  in  the 


%''  *  '/''  I' ' '!   !'  '  J''?™'  El)UC4TI0N  OF  MAN. 

Divine  Unity,  in  God  alone.  God  is  the  sole  source  of 
all  thiDgs.  In  all  things  there  lives  and  reigns  the 
Divine  Unity,  God.  All  things  live  and  have  their 
being  in  and  through  the  Divine  Unity,  in  and  through 
God.  All  things  are  only  through  the  divine  effluence 
that  lives  in  them.  The  divine  effluence  that  lives  in 
each  thing  is  the  essence  of  each  thing. 

§  2.  It  is  the  destiny  and  life-work  of  aU  things  to 
unfold  their  essence,  hence  their  divine  being,  and, 
therefore,  the  Divine  Unity  itself — to  reveal  God  in 
their  external  and  transient  being.  It  is  the  special  des- 
tiny and  life-work  of  man,  as  an  intelligent  and  rational 
being,  to  become  fully,  vividly,  and  clearly  conscious  of 
his  essence,  of  the  divine  effluence  in  him,  and,  there- 
fore, of  God ;  to  become  fully,  vividly,  and  clearly  con- 
scious of  his  destiny  and  life-work ;  and  to  accomplish 
this,  to  render  it  (his  essence)  active,  to  reveal  it  in  his 
own  life  with  self-determination  and  freedom. 
I  Education  coiuisU  in  leading  7nan^  as  a  thinking, 
intelligent  heing,  growing  into  self -consciousness,  to  a 
pure  and  unsullied^  conscious  and  free  rejyresentation 
of  the  inner  law  of  Divine  Unity,  and  in  teaching  him 
ways  and  means  thereto. 

[In  his  educational  work  this  principle  of  life-unity  was  ever 
uppermost  in  Froebel's  mind.  The  full,  clear,  consistent  translation 
of  this  principle  into  life,  and  into  the  work  of  education,  constitutes 
the  chief  characteristic,  as  well  as  the  chief  merit,  of  his  work. 
Viewed  in  its  light,  education  becomes  a  process  of  unification  ; 
therefore,  Froebel  frequently  called  his  educational  method  "  devel- 
oping, or  human  culture  for  all-sided  unification  of  life."  In  his  let- 
ter to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen  he  characterizes  his  tendency  in  these 
words ;  "  I  would  educate  human  beings  who  with  their  feet  stand 
rooted  in  God's  earth,  in  nature,  whose  heads  reach  even  into  heaven 
and  there  behold  truth,  in  whose  hearts  are  united  both  earth  and 


LIFE-UNITY.  3 

heaven,  the  varied  life  of  earth  and  nature,  and  the  glory  and  peace 
of  heaven,  God's  earth  and  God's  heaven."  Still  later  he  said,  in  the 
same  vein  :  "  There  is  no  other  power  but  that  of  the  idea ;  the  iden- 
tity of  the  cosmic  laws  with  the  laws  of  our  mind  must  be  recognized, 
all  things  must  be  seen  as  the  embodiments  of  one  idea."  With  ref- 
erence to  the  individual  human  being,  this  unification  of  life  means 
to  Froebel  harmony  in  feeling,  thinking,  willing,  and  doing ;  with 
reference  to  humanity,  it  means  subordination  of  self  to  the  common 
welfare  and  to  the  progressive  development  of  mankind ;  with  refer- 
ence to  nature,  it  means  a  thoughtful  subordination  to  her  laws  of 
development ;  with  reference  to  God,  it  means  perfect  faith  as  Froe- 
bel finds  it  realized  in  Christianity. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  point  out  at  the  very  start  the  essential 
agreement  between  Froebel  and  Herbert  Spencer  in  this  'fundamental 
principle  of  unification.  Of  course,  it  will  be  necessary  in  this  com- 
parison to  keep  in  mind  that  Froebel  applies  the  principle  to  educa- 
tion in  its  practical  bearings  as  an  interpretation  of  thought  in  life, 
whereas  Spencer  applies  it  to  philosophy,  as  the  interpretation  of  life 
in  thought.  To  Spencer  "  knowledge  of  the  lowest  kind  is  ununified 
knowledge;  science  is  partialhj-unified  knowledge;  philosophy  is 
completely -unified  knowledge."  In  the  concluding  paragraphs  of 
'•  First  Principles"  he. sets  forth  the  "power  of  which  no  limit  in 
time  or  space  can  be  conceived"  as  the  " inexpugnable  consciousness 
in  which  religion  and  philosophy  are  at  one  with  common  sense," 
and  as  "  likewise  that  on  which  all  exact  science  is  based."  He  desig- 
nates "  unification  "  as  the  "  characteristic  of  developing  thought," 
just  as  Froebel  finds  in  it  the  characteristic  of  developing  life ;  and 
Spencer's  faith  in  the  "  eventual  arrival  at  unity  "  in  thought  is  as 
firm  as  Froebel's  faith  in  the  eventual  arrival  at  unity  in  life. — 
Translator.] 

§  3.  The  knowledge  of  that  eternal  law,  the  insight 
into  its  origin,  into  its  essence,  into  the  totality,  the  con- 
nection, and  intensity  of  its  effects,  the  knowledge  of 
life  in  its  totality,  constitute  science^  the  science  of  life  / 
and,  referred  by  the  self-conscious,  thinking,  intelligent 
being  to  representation  and  practice  through  and  in 
himself,  this  becomes  science  of  education. 


4  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

The  system  of  directions,  derived  from  the  knowl- 
edge and  study  of  that  law,  to  guide  thinking,  intelli- 
gent beings  in  the  apprehension  of  their  life-work  and 
in  the  accomplishment  of  their  destiny,  is  the  theory  of 
education. 

The  self-active  application  of  this  knowledge  in  the 
direct  development  and  cultivation  of  rational  beings 
toward  the  attainment  of  their  destiny,  is  thfi  jpractice 
of  education. 

The  object  of  education  is  the  realization  of  a  faith- 
ful, pure,  inviolate,  and  hence  holy  life. 

Knowledge  and  application,  consciousness  and  reali- 
zation in  life,  united  in  the  service  of  a  faithful,  pure, 
holy  life,  constitute  the  wisdom  ojlife^  pure  wisdom. 

§  4.  To  he  wise  is  the  highest  aim  of  man^  is  the 
most  exalted  achievement  of  h^man  seK-determina- 
tion. 

To  educate  one's  self  and  others,  with  consciousness, 
freedom,  and  self-determination,  is  a  twofold  achieve- 
ment of  wisdom :  it  hegan  with  the  iirst  appearance  of 
man  upon  the  earth ;  it  was  manifest  with  the  first  ap- 
pearance of  full  self-consciousness  in  man  ;  it  hegir<s 
now  to  proclaim  itself  as  a  necessary,  universal  require- 
ment of  humanity,  and  to  be  heard  and  heeded  as  such. 
With  this  achievement  man  enters  upon  the  path  which 
alone  leads  to  life ;  which  surely  tends  to  the  fulfillment 
of  the  inner,  and  thereby  also  to  the  fulfillment  of  the 
outer,  requirement  of  humanity  ;  which,  through  a  faith- 
ful, pure,  holy  life,  attains  beatitude.  ^ 

§  5.  By  education,  then,  the  divine  essence  of  man 
should  be  unfolded,  brought  out,  lifted  into  conscious- 
ness, and  man  himself  raised  into  free,  conscious  obedi- 


AIM  OF  EDUCATION.  5 

ence  to  the  divine  priDciple  that  lives  in  him,  and  to  a 
free  representation  of  this  principle  in  his  life. 

Education,  in  instruction,  should  lead  man  to  see  and 
know  the  divine,  spiritual,  and  eternal  principle  which 
animates  surrounding  nature,  constitutes  the  essence  of 
nature,  and  is  permanently  manifested  in  nature ;  and, 
in  living  reciprocity  and  united  with  training,  it  should 
express  and  demonstrate  the  fact  that  the  same  law  rules 
both  (the  divine  principle  and  nature),  as  it  does  nature 
and  man.  ^''^^^^- 

JMi^ication^^a^^aj^hole^^^  of  instruction  and 

training,  should  bring  to  man's  consciousness,  and  re^n^er 
efficient  Jn  his  lifejj:h^  fact  that  man  and  joature  pro- 
ceed froia  ^od  and  are  cQiLditimiad-J}y_him — that  both 
have  their  being  in  God. 

Education  should  l9kd  and  guide  mam.  to  clearness 
concerning  himself  and  in  himself  j  to  jpeace  with  nOr 
tuTP'^  and  to  unity  with  God  /  hence,  it  should  lift  him 
to  a  knowledge  of  himself  and  of  mankind,  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  of  nature,  and  to  the  pure  and  holy 
life  to  which  such  knowledge  leads. 

§  6.  In  all  these  requirements,  however,  education 
is  based  on  considerations  of  the  innermost. 

The  inner  essence  of  things  is  recognized  by  the  in- 
nermost spirit  (of  man)  in  the  outer  and  through  out- 
ward manifestations.  The  inner  being,  the  spirit,  the 
divine  essence  of  things  and  of  man,  is  known  by  its 
outward  manifestations.  In  accordance  with  this,  all 
education,  all  instruction  and  training,  all  life  as  a  free 
growth,  start  from  the  outer  manifestations  of  man  and 
things,  and,  proceeding  from  the  outer,  act  upon  the 
inner,  and  form  its  judgments  concerning  the  inner. 


6  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

JS'evertlieless,  education  should  not  draw  its  inferences 
concerning  the  inner  from  the  outer  directly,  for  it  lies 
in  the  nature  of  things  that  always  in  some  relation  in- 
ferences should  be  drawn  inversely.  Thus,  the  diversity 
and  multiplicity  in  nature  do  not  warrant  the  inference 
of  multiplicity  in  the  ultimate  cause — a  multiplicity  of 
gods — nor  does  the  unity  of  God  warrant  the  inference 
of  finality  in  nature ;  but,  in  both  cases,  the  inference 
lies  conversely  from  the  diversity  in  nature  to  the  oneness 
of  its  ultimate  cause,  and  from  the  unity  of  God  to  an 
eternally  progressing  diversity  in  natural  developments. 
The  failure  to  apply  this  truth,  or  rather  the  contin- 
ual sinning  against  it,  the  drawing  of  direct  inferences 
concerning  the  inner  life  of  childhood  and  youth  from 
certain  external  manifestations  of  life,  is  the  chief  cause 
of  antagonism  and  contention,  of  the  frequent  mistakes 
in  life  and  education.  This  furnishes  constant  occasion 
for  innumerable  false  judgments  concerning  the  motives 
of  the  young,  for  numberless  failures  in  the  education  of 
children,  fo;r  endless  misunderstanding  between  parent 
and  child,  for  so  much  needless  complaint  and  unseemly 
arraignment  of  children,  for  so  many  unreasonable  de- 
mands made  upon  them.  Therefore,  this  truth,  in  its 
application  to  parents,  educators,  and  teachers,  is  of 
such  great  importance  that  they  should  strive  to  render 
themselves  familiar  with  its  application  in  its  smallest 
details.  This  would  bring  into  the  relations  between 
parents  and  children,  pupils  and  educators,  teacher  and 
taught,  a  clearness,  a  constancy,  a  serenity  which  are  now 
sought  in  vain  :  for  the  child  that  seems  good  outwardly 
often  is  not  good  inwardly,  i.  e.,  does  not  desire  the  good 
spontaneously,  or  from  love,  respect,  and  appreciation ; 


PASSIVE   EDUCATION.  7 

similarly,  the  outwardly  rough,  stubborn,  self-willed 
child  that  seems  outwardly  not  good,  frequently  is  tilled 
with  the  liveliest,  most  eager,  strongest  desire  for  spon- 
taneous goodness  in  his  actions ;  and  the  apparently  in- 
attentive boy  frequently  follows  a  certain  fixed  line  of 
thought  that  withholds  his  attention  from  all  external 
things. 

§  7.  Therefore,  education  in  instruction  and  train- 
ing, originally  and  in  its  first  principles,  should  neces- 
sarily be  passive^  following  (only  guarding  and  pro- 
tecting), not  prescriptive^  categorical^  interfering. 

[This  should  in  no  way  be  interpreted  as  a  pretext  for  letting 
the  child  alone,  giving  him  up  wholly  to  his  own  so-called  self- 
direction,  allowing  him  possibly  to  drift  into  vicious  lawlessness  in- 
stead of  training  him  upward  into  free  obedience  to  law.  Froebel, 
indeed,  sees  in  the  child  a  fresh,  tender  bud  of  progressing  hu- 
manity, and  it  is  with  reference  to  the  divinity  that  to  him  lies  in 
the  child  thus  viewed  that  he  calls  for  passive  following  and  vigi- 
lant protection.  He  would  have  the  educator  study  the  child  as  a 
struggling  expression  of  an  inner  divine  law;  and  it  is  this  he  would 
have  us  obey  and  follow,  guard  and  protect,  in  our  educational 
work.  It  is  evident  that  this  involves  constant  activity  in  judicious 
adjustment  of  surroundings,  so  that  the  child  may  be  free  from 
temptation  and  from  the  growth  of  unhealthy  whims  and  pernicious 
tendencies ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  he  may  be  supplied  with  ample 
incentives  and  opportunities  to  unfold  aright. 

Spencer  says,  with  the  same  thought :  "  A  higher  knowledge 
tends  continually  to  limit  our  interference  with  the  processes  of 
life.  As  in  medicine,  etc.,  ...  so  in  education,  we  are  finding  that 
success  is  to  be  achieved  only  by  rendering  our  measures  subservient 
to  that  spontaneous  unfolding  which  all  minds  go  through  in  their 
progress  to  maturity." — Tr.] 

§  8.  Indeed,  in  its  very  essence,  education  should 
have  these  characteristics;  for  the  undisturbed  opera- 
tion of  the  Divine  Unity  is  necessarily  good — can  not  be 


8  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

otherwise  than  good.  This  necessity  implies  that  the 
r  young  human  being — as  it  were,  still  in  process  of  crea- 
■  tion — would  seek,  although  still  unconsciously,  as  a 
product  of  nature,  yet  decidedly  and  surely,  that  which 
is  in  itself  best;  and,  moreover,  in  a  form  wholly 
adapted  to  his  condition,  as  well  as  to  his  disposition, 
his  powers,  and  means.  Thus  the  duckling  hastens  to 
the  pond  and  into  the  water,  while  the  young  chicken 
scratches  the  ground,  and  the  young  swallow  catches 
its  food  upon  the  wing  and  scarcely  ever  touches  the 
ground.  IS^ow,  whatever  may  be  said  against  the  pre- 
viously enounced  law  of  converse  inference,  and  against 
this  other  law  of  close  sequence,  as  well  as  against  their 
application  to  and  in  education,  they  will  be  fully  vin- 
dicated in  their  simplicity  and  truth  among  the  genera- 
tions that  trust  in  them  fully  and  obey  them. 
(/^^  We  grant  space  and  time  to  young  plants  and  ani- 
mals because  we  know  that,  in  accordance  with  the 
laws  that  live  in  them,  they  will  develop  properly  and 
grow  well ;  young  animals  and  plants  are  given  rest, 
and  arbitrary  interference  with  their  growth  is  avoided, 
because  it  is  known  that  the  opposite  practice  would 
disturb  their  pure  unfolding  and  sound  development ; 
but  the  young  human  being  is  looked  upon  as  a  piece 
of  wax,  a  lump  of  clay,  which  man  can  mold  into 
what  he  pleases^V'  O  man,  who  roamest  through  garden 
and  field,  through  meadow  and  grove,  why  dost  'thou 
close  thy  mind  to  the  silent  teaching  of  nature  ?  Be- 
hold even  the  weed,  which,  grown  up  amid  hindrances 
and  constraint,  scarcely  yields  an  indication  of  inner 
law ;  behold  it  in  nature,  in  field  or  garden,  and  see 
how  perfectly  it  conforms  to  law — what  a  pure  inner 


ACTIVE   EDUCATlUxV.  9 

life  it  shows,  harmonious  in  all  parts  and  features :  a 
beautiful  sun,  a  radiant  star,  it  has  burst  from  the  earth ! 
Thus,  O  parents,  could  your  children,  on  whom  jou  force 
in  tender  years  forms  and  aims  against  their  nature, 
and  who,  therefore,  walk  with  you  in  morbid  and  un. 
natural  deformity — thus  could  your  children,  too,  un- 
fold in  beauty  and  develop  in  all-sided  harmony ! 

In  accordance  with  the  laws  of  divine  influence, 
and  in  view  of  the  original  soundness  and  wholeness  of 
man,  all  arbitrary  (active),  prescriptive  and  categorical, 
interfering  education  in  instruction  and  training  must, 
of  necessity,  annihilate,  hinder,  and  destroy.  Thus — 
to  take  another  lesson  from  nature — the  grape-vine 
must,  indeed,  be  trimmed ;  but  this  trimming  as  such 
does  not  insure  wine.  On  the  other  hand,  the  trim- 
ming, although  done  with  the  best  intention,  may  wholly 
destroy  the  vine,  or  at  least  impair  its  fertility  and  pro-  v 
ductiveness,  if  the  gardener  fail  in  his  work  passively  ) 
and  attentively  to  follow  the  nature  of  the  plant.  In 
the  treatment  of  the  things  of  nature  we  very  often 
take  the  right  road,  whereas  in  the  treatment  of  man 
we  go  astray ;  and  yet  the  forces  that  act  in  both  pro- 
ceed from  the  same  source  and  obey  the  same  law. 
Hence,  from  this  point  of  view,  too,  it  is  so  important 
that  man  should  consider  and  observe  nature. 

l^ature,  it  is  true,  rarely  shows  us  that  unmarred 
original  state,  especially  in  man  ;  but  it  is  for  this  reason 
only  the  more  necessary  to  assume  its  existence  in  every 
human  being,  until  the  opposite  has  been  clearly  shown  ; 
otherwise  that  unmarred  original  state,  where  it  might 
exist  contrary  to  our  expectation,  might  be  easily  im- 
paired.    If,  however,  there  is  unmistakable  proof  from 


10  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

Lis  entire  inner  and  outer  bearing  that  the  original 
wholeness  of  the  human  being  to  be  educated  has  been 
marred,  then  directly  categorical,  mandatory  education 
in  its  full  severity  is  demanded. 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  it  is  not  always  possi- 
ble, and  often  difficult,  to  prove  with  certainty  that  the 
inner  being  is  marred ;  at  least,  this  applies  to  the 
point,  the  source  in  which  the  marring  originates  and 
whence  it  derives  its  tendency.  Again,  the  last  essen- 
tially infallible  criterion  of  this  lies  only  in  the  human 
being  himself.  Hence,  from  this  point  of  view,  too, 
education  in  training  and  in  all  instruction  should  be 
by  far  more  passive  and  following  than  categorical  and 
prescriptive ;  for,  by  the  full  application  of  the  latter 
mode  of  education,  we  should  wholly  lose  the  pure,  the 
sure  and  steady  progressive  development  of  mankind — 
i.  e.,  the  free  and  spontaneous  representation  of  the 
divine  in  man,  and  through  the  life  of  man,  which,  as 
we  have  seen,  is  the  ultimate  aim  and  object  of  all  edu- 
cation, as  well  as  the  ultimate  destiny  of  man. 

Therefore,  the  purely  categorical,  mandatory,  and 
prescriptive  education  of  man  is  not  in  place  before 
'^'  the  advent  of  intelligent  self-consciousness,  of  unity  in 
life  between  God  and  man,  of  established  harmony  and 
community  of  life  between  father  and  son,  disciple  and 
master ;  for  then  only  can  truth  be  deduced  and  known 
from  insight  into  the  essential  being  of  the  whole  and 
into  the  nature  of  the  individual. 

Before  any  disturbance  and  marring  in  the  original 
wholeness  of  the  pupil  has  been  shown  and  fully  de- 
termined in  its  origin  and  tendency,  nothing,  therefore, 
is  left  for  us  to  do  but  to  bring  him  into  relations  and 


V 


SELF-ACTIVITY.  H 

surroundings  in  all  respects  adapted  to  him,  reflecting  • 
his  conduct  as  in  a  mirror,  easily  and  promptly  reveal- 
ing to  him  its  effects  and  consequences,  readily  disclosing 
to  him  and  others  his  true  condition,  and  affording  a 
minimum  of  opportunities  for  iujury  from  the  out- 
breaks and  consequences  of  his  inner  failings. 

§  9.  The  prescriptive,  interfering  education,  indeed, 
can  be  justified  only  on  two  grounds :  either  because  it 
teaches  the  clear,  living  thought,  seK-evident  truth,  or 
because  it  holds  up  a  life  whose  ideal  value  has  been 
established  in  experience.  But,  where  self-evident,  liv- 
ing, absolute  truth  rules,  the  eternal  principle  itself 
reigns,  as  it  were,  and  will  on  this  account  maintain  a 
passive,  following  character.  For  the  living  thought,  the 
eternal  divine  principle  as  such  demands  and  requires 
free  self -activity  and  self-determination  on  the  part  of 
man,  the  being  created  for  freedom  in  the  image  of  God.  , 

[Self-activity,  in  Froebel's  sense  of  the  word,  implies  not  merely 
that  the  learner  shall  do  all  himself,  not  merely  that  he  will  be  bene- 
fitted only  by  what  he  himself  does :  it  implies  that  at  all  times  Jiis 
whole  self  shall  he  active,  that  the  activity  should  enlist  his  entire 
self  in  all  the  phases  of  being.  The  law  of  self-activity  demands 
not  activity  alone,  but  all-sided  activity  of  the  whole  being,  the 
whole  self. 

There  is  much  difference  between  the  self -activity  of  Pestalozzl 
and  that  of  Froebel.  The  former  has  reference  more  to  acquisitive 
or  learning  processes  that  fill  the  memory  with  little  that  bears  di- 
rectly on  mental  expansion ;  it  is  much  concerned  with  long  lists  of 
names,  verbal  facts  and  formulas,  recitation,  and  with  imitation  even 
in  reading,  writing,  singing,  and  drawing.  Froebel's  self-activity  ap-  | 
plies  to  the  whole  being;  it  would  have  all  that  is  in  the  child  self- 
actively  growing,  simultaneously  and  continuously.  He  looks  upon 
the  child  as  an  individuality  distinctly  separated  from  all  other  in- 
dividualities that  make  up  the  universe,  but^with  an  all-sided  in- 
stinctive yearning  for  unification  with  these,  with  points  eager  for 


12  THE  EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

contact  in  all  directions  of  being,  and  his  self-activity  applies  to 
these  outward  tendencies,  to  doing  in  its  widest  sense,  as  much  as  it 
does  to  the  inward  tendencies,  or  to  seeing  in  its  widest  sense. 

Froebel,  consequently,  lays  more  stress  than  Pestalozzi  on  spon- 
taneity of  action,  on  the  adaptation  of  all  activities  to  the  child's 
power,  and  on  the  full,  whole-hearted,  sympathetic,  active  co-opera- 
tion of  the  teacher,  whom  he  urges  "  to  live  (to  learn  and  do)  with 
the  children." 

Froebel's  self-activity  is  necessarily  coupled  with  joy  on  the 
part  of  the  child.  To  him  joy  is  the  inward  reaction  of  self-activity. 
Here,  too,  he  is  closely  followed  by  Spencer,  who  asks  that  "  through- 
out youth,  as  in  early  childhood  and  maturity,  the  process  (of  intel- 
lectual education)  shall  be  one  of  self-instruction  " ;  and  "  that  the 
mental  action  induced  by  this  process  shall  be  throughout  intrin- 
sically grateful." 

It  is  a  matter  of  great  regret  that  Spencer,  who  seems  to  be  quite 
familiar  with  Pestalozzi,  was  unacquainted  with  Froebel's  work. 
What  a  weapon  of  strength  Froebel's  thoughts  and  suggestions 
would  have  proved  in  Spencer's  hands ! — TV.] 

§  10.  Again,  a  life  wliose  ideal  value  has  been  per- 
fectly established  in  experience  never  aims  to  serve  as 
model  in  its  form,  but  only  in  its  essence,  in  its  spirit. 
It  is  the  greatest  mistake  to  suppose  that  spiritual,  hu- 
man perfection  can  serve  as  a  model  in  its  form.  This 
accounts  for  the  common  experience  that  the  taking  of 
such  external  manifestations  of  perfection  as  examples, 
instead  of  elevating  mankind,  checks,  nay,  represses,  its 
development. 

§  11.  Jesus  himself,  therefore,  in  his  life  and  in  his 
teachings,  constantly  opposed  the  imitation  of  external 
perfection.  Only  spiritual,  striving,  living  perfection 
is  to  be  held  fast  as  an  ideal ;  its  external  manifestation 
— on  the  other  hand — its  form  should  not  be  limited. 
The  highest  and  most  perfect  life  which  we,  as  Chris- 
tians, behold  in  Jesus — the  highest  known  to  mankind — 


y  '  MANDATORY   IDEAL.  13 

is  a  life  wliicli  found  the  primordial  and  ultimate  reason 
of  its  existence  clearly  and  distinctly  in  its  own  being ; 
a  life  which,  in  accordance  with  the  eternal  law,  came 
from  the  eternally  creating  All-Life,  self-acting  and  self- 
poised.  This  highest  eternally  perfect  life  itself  would"" 
have  each  human  being  again  become  a  similar  image 
of  the  eternal  ideal,  so  that  each  again  might  become  a 
similar  ideal  for  himself  and  others ;  it  would  have  each 
human  being  develop  from  within,  self-active  and  free, 
in  accordance  with  the  eternal  law.  This  is,  indeed,  the 
problem  and  the  aim  of  all  education  in  instruction  and 
training ;  there  can  and  should  be  no  other.  We  see, 
then,  that  even  the  eternal  ideal  is  following,  passive,  in 
its  requirements  concerning  the  form  of  being. 

§  12.  Nevertheless,  in  its  inner  essence  (and  we  see 
this  in  experience),  the  living  thought,  the  eternal  spirit- 
ual ideal,  ought  to  be  and  is  categorical  and  mandatory 
in  its  manifestations :  and  we  see  it,  indeed,  sternly 
mandatory,  inexorable,  and  inflexible,  but  only  when  the 
requirement  appears  as  a  pronounced  necessity  in  the 
essence  of  the  whole,  as  well  as  in  the  nature  of  the  in- 
dividual, and  can  be  recognized  as  such  in  him  to  whom 
it  is  addressed ;  only  where  the  ideal  speaks  as  the  or- 
gan of  necessity,  and,  therefore,  always  relatively.  The 
ideal  becomes  mandatory  only  where  it  supposes  that 
the  person  addressed  enters  into  the  reason  of  the  re- 
quirement with  serene,  child-like  faith,  or  with  clear, 
manly  insight.  It  is  true,  in  word  or  example,  the  ideal 
is  mandatory  in  all  these  cases,  but  always  only  with 
reference  to  the  spirit  and  inner  life,  never  w^ith  refer- 
ence to  outer  form. 

In  good  education,  then,  in  genuine  instruction,  in\ 


14  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN.      - 

true  training,  necessity  should  call  forth^  freedom  ;  law, 
self-determination ;  external  compulsion,  inner  free- 
will ;  external  hate,  inner  love.  Where  hatred  brings 
forth  hatred ;  law,  dishonesty  and  crime ;  compulsion, 
slavery ;  necessity,  servitude ;  where  oppression  de- 
:.«troys  and  debases ;  where  severity  and  harshness  give 
rise  to  stubbornness  and  deceit — all  education  is  abort- 
ive. In  order  to  avoid  the  latter  and  to  secure  the  for- 
mer, all  prescription  should  be  adapted  to  the  pupil's 
nature  and  needs,  and  secure  his  co-operation.  This  is 
the  case  when  all  education  in  instruction  and  training,  in 
spite  of  its  necessarily  categorical  character,  bears  in  all 
details  and  ramifications  the  irrefutable  and  irresistible 
impress  that  the  one  who  makes  the  demand  is  himself 
strictly  and  unavoidably  subject  to  an  eternally  mhng 
law,  to  an  unavoidable  eternal  necessity,  and  that,  there- 
fore, all  despotism  is  banished. 

§  13.  All  true  education  in  training  and  instruction 
should,  therefore,  at  every  moment,  in  every  demand 
and  regulation,  be  simultaneously  double-sided — giving 
and_jtaking^jinitin£  and  dividing,  prescribing  and  fol- 
lowing, active  and  passive,  positive  yet  giving  scope, 
firm  and  yielding;  and  the  pupil  should  be  similarly 
conditioned:  but  between  the  two,  between  educator 
and  pupil,  between  request  and  obedience,  there  should 
invisibly  rule  a  third  something,  to  which  educator 
and  pupil  are  equally  subject.  This  third  something 
is  the  Tight^  the  hest^  necessarily  conditioned  and  ex- 
pressed without  arbitrariness  in  the  circumstances.  The 
calm  recognition,  the  clear  knowledge,  and  the  serene, 
I  cheerful  obedience  to  the  rule  of  this  third  something 
is  the  particular  feature  that  should  be  constantly  and 


CONTROLLING  LAW.  15 

clearly  manifest  in  the  bearing  and  conduct  of  the  edu- 
cator and  teacher,  and  often  firmly  and  sternly  empha- 
sized by  him.  The  child,  the  pupil,  has  a  very  keen 
feeling,  a  very  clear  apprehension,  and  rarely  fails  to 
distinguish,  whether  what  the  educator,  the  teacher,  or 
the  father  says  or  requests  is  personal  or  arbitrary,  or 
whether  it  is  expressed  by  him  as  a  general  law  and  ne- 
cessity. 

§  14.  This  obedience,  this  trustful  yielding  to  an 
unchangeable  third  principle  to  which  pupil  and  teacher 
are  equally  subject,  should  appear  even  in  the  smallest 
details  of  every  demand  of  the  educator  and  teacher. 
Hence,  the  general  formula  of  instruction  is :  Do  this 
and  observe  what  follows  in  this  particular  case  from 
thy  action^  and  to  what  Jcnowledge  it  leads  thee.  Simi- 
larly, the  precept  for  life  in  general  and  for  qyqyj  one 
is :  Exhibit  only  thy  spiritual  essence^  thy  life,  in  the 
external,  and  by  means  of  the  external  in  thy  actions, 
and  observe  the  requirements  of  thy  inner  being  and  its 
nature. 

Jesus  himself  charges  man  in  and  with  this  precept 
to  acknowledge  the  divinity  of  his  mission  and  of  his 
inner  life,  as  well  as  the  truth  of  his  teaching ;  and  this 
is,  therefore,  the  precept  that  opens  the  way  to  the 
knowledge  of  all  life  in  its  origin  and  nature,  as  well  as 
of  all  truth  (see  §  23). 

This  explains  and  justifies,  too,  the  next  require- 
ment, and  indicates,  at  the  same  time,  the  manner  of  its 
fulfillment :  The  educator,  the  teacher,  should  make  the 
individual  and  particular  general,  the  general  par- 
ticular and  individual,  and  elucidate  both  in  life  /  he 
should  make  the  external  internal,  and  the  internal  ex- 


IQ  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAK 

ternal,  and  indicate  the  necessary  unity  of  hoth ;  he 
should  consider  the  finite  in  the  light  of  the  infinite^ 
and  the  infinite  in  the  light  of  the  finite,  and  harmonize 
hoth  in  life  /  he  should  see  and  perceive  the  divine  es- 
sence in  whatever  is  human,  trace  the  nature  of  man  to 
God,  and  seek  to  exhibit  both  within  one  another  in  life 
(see  §  25). 

This  appears  from  the  nature  of  man  the  more 
clearly  and  definitely,  the  more  distinctly  and  unmis- 
takably, the  more  man  studies  himself  in  himself,  in  the 
growing  human  being,  and  in  the  history  of  human  de- 
velopment. 

§  15.  Now,  the  representation  of  the  infinite  in  the 
finite,  of  the  eternal  in  the  temporal,  of  the  celestial  in 
the  terrestrial,  of  the  divine  in  and  through  man,  in 
the  life  of  man  by  the  nursing  of  his  originally  divine 
nature,  confronts  us  unmistakably  on  every  side  as  the 
only  object,  the  only  aim  of  all  education,  in  all  instruc- 
tion and  training.  Therefore  man  should  be  viewed 
from  this  only  true  standpoint  immediately  with  his  ap- 
pearance on  earth ;  nay,  as  in  the  case  of  Mary,  imme- 
diately with  his  annunciation,  and  he  should  be  thus 
heeded  and  nursed  while  yet  invisible,  unborn. 

"With  reference  to  his  eternal  immortal  soul,  every 
human  being  should  be  viewed  and  treated  as  a  mani- 
festation of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  human  form,  as  a 
pledge  of  the  love,  the  nearness,  the  grace  of  God,  as  a 
gift  of  God.  Indeed,  the  early  Christians  viewed  their 
children  in  this  light,  as  is  shown  by  the  names  they 
gave  them. 

Even  as  a  child,  every  human  being  should  be 
viewed  and  treated  as  a  necessary  essential  member  of 


MAN'S  RELATIVITY.  17 

humanity ;  and  therefore,  as  guardians,  parents  are  re- 
sponsible to  God,  to  the  child,  and  to  humanity. 

Similarly,  parents  should  view  their  child  in  his  ne- 
cessary connection,  in  his  obvious  and  living  relations 
to  the  present,  past,  and  future  development  of  human- 
ity, in  order  to  bring  the  education  of  the  child  into 
liarmony  with  the  past,  present,  and  future  require- 
ments of  the  development  of  humanity  and  of  the  race 
(see  §  24).  For  man^  as  such,  gifted  with  divine,  earth- 
ly, and  human  attributes,  should  he  viewed  and  treated 
as  related  to  God,  to  nature,  and  to  humanity;  as  com- 
prehending within  himself  U7iity  (God),  diversity  (na- 
ture), and  individuality  (humanity),  as  well  as  also  the 
present,  past,  and  future  (see  §§  18,  61). 

§  16.  Man,  humanity  in  man,  as  an  external  mani- 
festation, should,  therefore,  be  looked  upon  not  as  per- 
fectly developed,  not  as  fixed  and  stationary,  but  as 
steadily  and  progressively  growing,  in  a  state  of  ever- 
living  development,  ever  ascending  from  one  stage  of 
culture  to  another  toward  its  aim  which  partakes  of  the 
infinite  and  eternal. 

It  is  unspeakably  pernicious  to  look  upon  the  de- 
velopment of  humanity  as  stationary  and  completed, 
and  to  see  in  its  present  phases  simply  repetitions  and 
greater  generalizations  of  itself.  For  the  child,  as  well 
as  every  successive  generation,  becomes  thereby  exclu- 
sively imitative,  an  external  dead  copy — as  it  were,  a 
cast  of  the  preceding  one — and  not  a  living  ideal  for 
its  stage  of  development  which  it  had  attained  in  human 
development  considered  as  a  whole,  to  serve  future 
generations  in  all  time  to  come.  Indeed,  each  succes- 
sive generation  and  each  successive  individual  human 


18  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

being,  inasmuch  as  he  would  understand  the  past  and 
present,  must  pass  through  all  preceding  phases  of  hu- 
man development  and  culture,  and  this  should  not  be 
done  in  the  way  of  dead  imitation  or  mere  copying,  but 
in  the  way  of  living,  spontaneous  self-activity  (see  §  24). 
Every  human  being  should  represent  these  phases  spon- 
taneously and  freely  as  a  type  for  himself  and  others. 
For  in  every  human  being,  as  a  member  of  humanity 
and  as  a  child  of  God,  there  lies  and  lives  humanity  as  a 
whole ;  but  in  each  one  it  is  realized  and  expressed  in  a 
wholly  particular,  peculiar,  personal,  unique  manner ; 
and  it  should  be  exhibited  in  each  individual  human 
being  in  this  wholly  peculiar,  unique  manner,  so  that 
the  spirit  of  humanity  and  of  God  may  be  recognized 
ever  more  clearly  and  felt  ever  more  vividly  and  dis- 
tinctly in  its  intinity,  eternity,  and  as  comprehending 
all  existing  diversity. 

Only  this  exhaustive,  adequate,  and  comprehensive 
knowledge  of  man  and  of  the  nature  of  man,  from 
which  diligent  search  derives  spontaneously,  as  it  were, 
all  other  knowledge  needful  in  the  care  and  education 
of  man — only  this  view  of  man,  from  the  moment  of 
his  conception,  can  enable  true,  genuine  education  to 
thrive,  blossom,  bear  fruit,  and  ripen. 

[Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  "  Education,"  states  this  less  broadly 
in  these  words:  '-The  education  of  the  child  must  accord  both  in 
mode  and  arrangement  with  the  education  of  mankind  as  considered 
historically ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  genesis  of  knowledge  in  the  in- 
dividual must  follow  the  same  course  as  the  genesis  of  knowledge  in 
the  race."  He  attributes  the  enunciation  of  this  doctrine  to  M. 
Comte.  Inasmuch  as  M.  Corate  published  the  first  volume  of  his 
"  Positive  Philosophy  "  in  1830,  and  Froebel  issued  his  "  Education 
of  Man "  in  1826,  the  question  of  priority  is  easily  settled.  How- 
ever, the  thought  was  in  the  atmosphere  of  that  period,    it  would 


MAN'S  DESTINY.  19 

be  easy  to  show  traces  of  it  in  Pestalozzi,  in  Richter  and  Goethe,  in 
Kant  and  Hegel,  and  certainly  in  Herbart ;  Froebel  himself  clearly 
foreshadows  it  in  writings  from  the  years  1821  and  1822.  (See,  also, 
note,  §  24.)— Tr.] 

§  17.  From  tliis  all  that  parents  should  do  before 
and  after  the  annnn elation  follows  readily,  clearlj,  and 
unmistakably — to  be  pure  ano[  true  in  word  and  deed, 
to  be  filled  and  penetrated  with  the  worth  and  dignity 
of  man,  to  look  upon  themselves  as  the  keepers  and 
guardians  of  a  gift  of  God,  to  inform  themselves  con- 
cerning the  mission  and  destiny  of  man  as  well  as  con- 
cerning the  ways  and.  means  for  their  fulfillment.  Now, 
the  destiny  of  the  child  as  such  is  to  harmonize  in  his 
development  and  culture  the  nature  of  his  parents,  the 
fatherly  and  motherly  character,  their  intellectual  and 
emotional  drift,  which,  indeed,  may  lie  as  yet  dormant 
in  both  of  them,  as  mere  tendencies  and  energies. 
Thus,  too,  the  destiny  of  mem  as  a  child  of  God  and  of 
nature  is  to  represent  in  harmony  and  unison  the 
spirit  of  God  and  of  nature,  tlie  natural  and  the  divine, 
the  terrestrial  and  the  celestial,  the  finite  and  the  in- 
finite. Again,  the  destiny  of  the  child  as  a  member  of 
the  family  is  to  unfold  and  represent  the  nature  of  the 
family,  its  spiritual  tendencies  and  forces,  in  their  har- 
mony, all-sidedness,  and  purity ;  and,  similarly,  it  is  the 
destiny  and  mission  of  man  as  a  memher  of  humanity 
to  unfold  and  represent  the  nature,  the  tendencies  and  i 
forces,  of  humanity  as  a  whole. 

§  18.  Now,  although  the  nature  of  the  parents  and 
of  the  family  as  a  whole  may  still  lie  concealed  in 
them,  unrecognized  even  in  its  dimmest  foreshado wings, 
it  will  be  developed  and  represented  most  purely  and 


20  THE   EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

perfectly  by  the  children,  if  each  unfolds  and  repre- 
sents his  own  being,  as  perfectly,  purely,  and  univer- 
sally as  possible ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  as  much  as 
possible  in  accordance  with  his  own  individuality  and 
personality.  Thus,  too,  the  spirit  of  God  and  of  hu- 
manity— although  as  yet  concealed  and  unrecognized — 
is  revealed  most  purely  and  perfectly  by  man  as  a  child 
of  God  and  of  humanity  as  a  whole,  if  he  unfolds  and 
represents  his  own  being  as  much  as  possible  in  accord- 
ance with  his  individuality  and  personality.  This  is 
done  if  man  develops  and  perfects  himself  in  that  man- 
ner and  according  to  that  law  by  which  all  things  are 
developed  and  perfected,  have  been  developed  and  per- 
fected, and  which  is  supreme  wherever  Creator  and 
creature,  God  and  nature,  are  found ;  if  man  in  his  life 
reveals  his  being  in  inner  and  outer  unity ;  in  individ- 
uality^ pure  and  perfect,  in  all  individual  outward  re- 
actions ;  in  diversity  so  far  as  all  he  does  and  all  that 
proceeds  from  him  has  diverse  relations.  Only  and 
alone  in  this  threefold,  yet  in  itself  one  and  united^  rep- 
resentation, is  the  inner  being  perfectly  shown,  mani- 
fested, and  revealed.  Wherever  one  phase  of  this  three- 
fold representation  is  really  lacking,  or,  indeed,  only 
imperfectly  known  or  understood,  we  find  imperfect, 
incomplete  representation — imperfect,  hindering  insight. 
Only  in  this  way  each  thing  is  manifested  and  revealed 
in  its  unity,  all-sidedly,  and  in  accordance  with  its  nature ; 
only  by  the  recognition  and  application  of  this  triune 
representation  of  each  thing  whose  nature  is  to  be  com- 
pletely manifested  and  revealed,  can  a  true  knowledge 
of  each  thing,  a  true  understanding  of  its  nature,  be 
reached  (see  §§  16,  61), 


OPERATION   OF  FORCE.  21 

§  19.  Therefore  the  child  should,  from  the  very 
time  of  his  birth,  be  viewed  in  accordance  with  his  na-  ^y 
ture,  treated  correctly,  and  given  the  free,  all-sided  use  ; 
of  his  powers.  By  no  means  should  the  use  of  certain 
powers  and  members  be  enhanced  at  the  expense  of 
others,  and  these  hindered  in  their  development ;  the 
child  should  neither  be  partly  chained,  fettered,  nor 
swathed  ;  nor,  later  on,  spoiled  by  too  much  assistance. 
The  child  should  learn  early  how  to  lind  in  himself  the 
center  and  fulcrum  of  all  his  powers  and  members,  to 
seek  his  support  in  this,  and,  resting  therein,  to  move 
freely  and  be  active,  to  grasp  and  hold  with  his  own 
hands,  to  stand  and  walk  on  his  own  feet,  to  find  and 
observe  with  his  own  eyes,  to  use  his  members  symmet- 
rically and  equally.  At  an  early  period  the  child  should 
learn,  apply,  and  practice  the  most  difficult  of  all  arts — 
to  hold  fast  the  center  and  fulcrum  of  his  life  in  spite 
of  all  digressions,  disturbances,  and  hindrances. 

§  20.  The  child?  s  first  iiUerance  is  that  of  force. 
The  operation  of  force,  of  the  forceful,  calls  forth  coun- 
ter-force ;  hence  the  first  t^rying  of  the  child,  his  push- 
ing with  his  feet  against  whatever  resists  them,  the 
holding  fast  of  whatever  touches  his  little  hands. 

Soon  after,  and  together  with  this,  there  is  developed 
in  the  child  sympathy.  Hence  his  smile^  his  enjoy- 
ment, his  delight,  his  vivacity  in  comfortable  warmth, 
in  clear  light,  in  pure,  fresh  air.  This  is  the  beginning 
of  self-consciousness  in  its  very  first  germs. 

Thus  the  first  utterances  of  the  child — of  human 
life — are  rest  and  unrest,  joy  and  sorrow,  smiles  and 
tears. 

Kest,  joy,  and  smiles  indicate  whatever  in  the  child's 
4 


22  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

feeling  is  adapted  to  the  pure,  undisturbed  development 
of  his  nature,  of  his  human  nature,  to  the  child's  life, 
to  human  life  in  the  child.  To  foster  and  guard  these 
should  be  the  first  concern  of  all  educating  influences, 
of  life-development,  life-elevation,  and  life-representa- 
tion. 

Unrest,  sorrow,  tears,  indicate  in  their  first  appear- 
ance whatever  is  opposed  to  the  development  of  the 
child,  of  the  human  being.  These,  too,  should  be  con- 
sidered in  education ;  it  should  strive  and  labor  to  find 
their  cause  or  causes,  and  to  remove  them. 

In  the  very  first — but  generally  only  in  the  very 
first — manifestations  of  fretting,  restlessness,  and  cry- 
ing, the  child  is  unquestionably  wholly  free  from  stub- 
bornness and  willfulness ;  but,  as  soon  as  the  little  one 
feels — we  know  not  how  and  in  what  degree — that  he 
is  left  arbitrarily  or  from  negligence  or  indolence  to 
whatever  may  give  him  discomfort  or  pain,  these  faults 
begin  to  germinate. 

Whenever  this  unfortunate  feeling  has  been,  as  it 
were,  inoculated,  willfulness,  the  first  and  most  hideous 
of  all  faults,  has  been  begotten — nay,  is  born — a  fault 
that  threatens  to  destroy  the  child  and  his  surroundings, 
and  which  can  scarcely  be  banished  without  injury  to 
some  trait  of  his  better  nature ;  a  fault  that  soon  becomes 
the  mother  of  deceit,  of  falsehood,  defiance,  obstinacy, 
and  a  host  of  subsequent  sad  and  hideous  faults. 

However,  in  choosing  the  right  way,  too,  we  may  err 
in  the  manner  and  form  of  proceeding. 

In  accordance  with  the  spirit  and  destiny  of  hu- 
manity, man  should  be  trained  to  learn,  by  the  endurance 
of  small,  insignificant  sufiering,  how  to  bear  heavy  suf- 


EARLIEST  INFANCY.  23 

fering  and  burdens  that  threaten  destructionj  If,  then, 
parents  or  attendants  are  firmly  and  surely  convinced 
that  all  the  fretting,  restless  child  may  need  at  the  time 
has  been  supplied — that  all  that  is  or  can  be  injurious 
has  been  removed-Rhey  should  calmly  and  quietly 
leave  the  fretting,  restless,  or  crying  child  to  himself  ;_j 
calmly  give  him  time  to  find  himself.  }  For,  if  the  little 
one  has  once  or  repeatedly  compelled  sympathy  and 
help  from  others  in  illusbry  suffering  or  slight  discom- 
fort, parents  and  attendants  have  lost  much,  almost  all, 
and  can  scarcely  retrieve  their  loss  by  force ;  for  the 
little  ones  have  so  keen  a  sense,  so  correct  a  feeling  for 
the  weaknesses  of  attendants,  that  they  would  rather 
put  forth  their  native  energy  in  the  easier  way  of  con- 
trol of  others — for.  which  the  weakness  of  attendants 
gives  them  the  opportunity — than  to  exercise  and  culti- 
vate it  in  themselves,  in  patience,  endurance,  and  ac- 
tivity. 

At  this  stage  of  development  the  young  and  grow- 
ing human  being  is  called  Sdugling  (suckling),  and  this 
he  is  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word  ;  for  sucking  m 
(absorbing)  is  as  yet  the  almost  exclusive  activity  of  the 
child.  Does  he  not,  indeed,  suck  in  (absorb)  the  con- 
dition of  surrounding  human  beings  ?  Therefore,  the 
above-named  manifestations — his  smiles  and  frettings — 
remain  as  yet  wholly  within  himself,  are  as  yet  the  di- 
rect, undifferentiated  concomitants  of  that  activity. 

At  this  stage  the  human  being  absorbs  and  takes  in 
only  diversity  from  without;  he  s — augt j  his  whole 
being  is,  as  it  were,  only  an  appropriating  Auge.^     For 

*  This  is  a  play  upon  the  words  saugen  (to  suck)  and  Auge  (eye),  by 
which  Froebel  desires  to  emphasize  the  statement  that,  at  this  stage,  the 


24:  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

this  reason  even  this  first  stage  of  development  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  for  the  present  and  later  life  of 
the  human  being.  It  is  highly  important  for  man's 
present  and  later  life  that  at  this  stage  he  absorb  noth- 
ing morbid,  low,  mean;  nothing  ambiguous,  nothing 
bad.  The  looks,  the  countenances  of  attendants  should, 
therefore,  be  pure ;  indeed,  every  phase  of  the  surround- 
ings should  be  firm  and  sure,  arousing  and  stimulating 
confidence,  pure  and  clear :  pure  air,  clear  light,  a  clean 
room,  however  needy  it  may  be  in  other  respects.  For, 
alas!  often  the  whole  life  of  man  is  not  sufficient  to 
efface  what  he  has  absorbed  in  childhood,  the  impres- 
dons  of  early  youthy^simply  because  his  whole  being, 
lil^  a  large  eye,  as  it  were,  was  opened  to  them  and 
wholly  given  up  to  them.  Often  the  hardest  struggles 
of  m2in  with  himself ,Jind  even  the  later  most  adverse 
and  oppressive  events  in  his  life,  have  their  origin  in 
this  stage  of  development ;  for  this  reason  the  care  of 
the  infant  is  so  important. 

Positive  testimony  to  this  can  be  borne  by  mothers 
who  have  nursed  some  of  their  children  themselves, 
have  relegated  the  nursing  of  others  to  attendants,  and 
have  observed  both  in  later  life.  Similarly,  mothers 
also  know  that  the  first  smile  of  the  child  marks  a  very 
definite  epoch  in  the  child's  life  and  development ;  that 
it  is  the  expression,  at  least,  of  the  first  physical  finding- 
of-self  (Sich-Selhst-Jindens),  and  may  be  much  more. 
For  that  first  smile  originates  not  only  in  the  physical 
feeling  of  his  individuality,  but  in  a  still  higher  physical 
feeling  of  community  between  mother  and  child ;  then 

almost  exclusive  activity  of  the  child  is  to  take  in  hosts  of  impressions 
through  the  senses,  of  which  the  e//e  is  the  chief  one, —  Tr. 


ESSENCE  OF  RELIGION.  25 

with  father  and  brothers  and  sisters ;  and,  later,  between 
these  and  humanity  on  the  one  hand  and  the  child  on 
the  other. 

§  21.  This  feeling  of  community,  first  uniting  the 
child  with  mother,  father,  brothers,  and  sisters,  and  rest- 
ing on  a  higher  spiritual  unity,  to  which,  later  on,  is 
added  the  unmistakable  discovery  that  father,  mother, 
brothers,  sisters,  human  beings  in  general,  feel  and  know 
themselves  to  be  in  community  and  unity  with  a  higher 
principle — with  humanity,  with  God — this  feeling  of 
community  is  the  very  first  germ,  the  very  first  begin- 
ning of  all  true  religious  spirit,  of  all  genuine  yearning 
for  unhindered  unification  with  the  Eternal,  with  God. 
Genuine  and  true,  living  religion,  reliable  in  danger  and 
struggles,  in  times  of  oppression  and  need,  in  joy  and 
pleasure,  must  come  to  man  in  his  infancy;  for  the 
Divine  Spirit  that  lives  and  is  manifest  in  the  finite,  in 
man,  has  an  early  though  dim  feeling  of  its  divine  ori- 
gin ;  and  this  vague  sentiment,  this  exceedingly  misty 
feeling,  should  be  fostered,  strengthened,  nurtured,  and, 
later  on,  raised  into  full  consciousness,  into  clear  appre- 
hension. 

It  is,  therefore,  not  only  a  touching  sight  for  the 
quiet  and  unseen  observer,  but  productive  of  eternal 
blessings  for  the  child,  when  the  mother  lays  the  sleep- 
ing«infant  upon  hi&  couch  with  an  intensely  loving,  soul- 
ful look  to  their  heavenly  Father,  praying  him  for 
fatherly  protection  and  loving  care. 

It  is  not  only  touching  and  greatly  pleasing,  but 
highly  important  and  full  of  blessings  for  the  whole 
present  and  later  life  of  the  child,  when  the  mother, 
with  a  look  full  of  joy  and  gratitude  toward  the  heav- 


26  THE  EDUCATION  OF   MAN. 

enly  Father,  and  thanking  him  for  rest  and  new  vigor, 
lifts  from  his  couch  the  awakened  child,  radiant  with 
joyous  smiles ;  nay,  for  the  whole  time  of  the  related 
life  between  child  and  mother  this  exerts  the  happiest 
influence.  Therefore,  the  true  mother  is  loath  to  let 
another  put  the  sleeping  cJiild  to  bed,  or  to  take  from  it 
the  awakened  child. 

The  child  thus  cared  for  by  his  mother  is  well-condi- 
tioned in  a  human,  earthly,  and  heavenly  point  of  view. 
Prayer  gives  peace ;  ^  through  God  man  rests  in  God, 
the  beginning  and  end  of  all  created  things. 

If  father  and  mother  would  give  to  their  children, 
as  the  choicest  portion  for  life,  this  never-failing  hold, 
this  ever-steady  point  of  support,  parent  and  child  must 
ever  be  in  intimate  inner  and  outer  unity,  when  in 
prayer — in  the  silent  chamber  or  in  open  nature — they 
feel  and  acknowledge  themselves  to  be  in  union  with 
their  God  and  Father.  Let  no  one  say,  "  The  children 
will  not  understand  it,"  for  thereby  he  deprives  them 
of  their  greatest  good.  If  only  they  are  not  already 
degenerate,  if  only  they  are  not  already  too  much 
estranged  from  themselves  and  their  parents,  they  un- 
derstand it,  and  will  understand  it :  they  understand  it 
not  through  and  in  the  thought,  but  through  and  in  the 
heart.  Religious  spirit,  a  fervid  life  in  God  and  with 
God,  in  all  conditions  and  circumstances  of  life  and  of 
the  human  mind,  will  hardly,  in  later  years,  nse  to  full 
vigorous  life,  if  it  has  not  grown  up  with  man  from  his 
infancy.  On  the  other  hand,  a  religious  spirit  thus  fos- 
tered and  nursed  (from  early  infancy)  will  rise  supreme 

*  Gehet  hettet — literally,  prayer  gives  a  bed — another  of  Froebel's  plays 
on  ^'ords. —  Tr. 


CONTINUITY  OF  GROWTH.  27 

in  all  storms  and  dangers  of  life.  This  is  the  fruit  of 
earlier  and  earliest  religious  example  on  the  part  of  the 
parents,  even  when  the  child  does  not  seem  to  notice  it 
or  to  understand  it.  Indeed,  this  is  the  case  with  all 
living  parental  example  (see  §  60). 

§  22.  ]N^ot  only  in  regard  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
divine  and  religious  elements  in  jnan,  but  in  his  entire 
cultivation,  it  is  highly  important  that  his  development 
should  proceed  continuously  from  one  point,  and  that 
this  contmuous  progress  be  seen  and  ever  guarded. 
Sharp  limits  and  definite  subdivisions  within  the  con- 
tinuous series  of  the  years  of  development,  withdrawing 
from  attention  the  permanent  continuity,  the  living  con- 
nection, the  inner  living  essence,  are  therefore  highly 
pernicious,  and  even  destructive  in  their  influence. 
Thus,  it  is  highly  pernicious  to  consider  the  stages  of 
human  development — infant,  child,  boy  or  girl,  youth 
or  maiden,  man  or  woman,  old  man  or  matron — as  really 
distinct,  and  not,  as  life  shows  them,  as  continuous  in 
themselves,  in  unbroken  transitions ;  highly  pernicious 
to  consider  the  child  or  boy  as  something  wholly  differ- 
ent from  the  youth  or  man,  and  as  something  so  distinct 
that  the  common  foundation  {human  heing)  is  seen  but 
vaguely  in  the  idea  and  word,  and  scarcely  at  all  con- 
sidered in  life  and  for  life.  And  yet  this  is  the  actual 
condition  of  affairs ;  for,  if  we  consider  common  speech 
and  life  as  it  actually  is,  how  wholly  distinct  do  the 
child  and  the  boy  appear !  Especially  do  the  later  stages 
speak  of  the  earlier  ones  as  something  quite  foreign, 
wholly  different  from  them  ;  the  boy  has  ceased  to  see 
in  himself  the  child,  and  fails  to  see  in  the  child  the 
boy ;  the  youth  no  longer  sees  in  himself  the  boy  and 


28  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

the  child,  nor  does  he  see  in  these  the  youth — with 
affected  superiority  he  scorns  them ;  and,  most  perni- 
cious of  all,  the  adult  man  no  longer  hnds  in  himself 
the  infant,  the  child,  the  boy,  the  youth,  the  earlier 
stages  of  development,  nor  in  these  the  coming  adult 
man,  but  speaks  of  the  child,  the  boy,  and  the  youth  as 
of  wholly  different  beings,  with  wholly  different  natures 
and  tendencies. 

These  definite  subdivisions  and  sharp  limitations 
►  have  their  origin  in  the  want  of  early  and  continuously 
growing  attention  to  the  development  and  self -observa- 
tion of  his  own  life.  It  is  possible  only  to  indicate,  but 
not  to  point  out  in  their  full  extent,  the  unspeakable 
mischief,  disturbance,  and  hindrance  in  the  development 
and  advancement  of  the  human  race,  arising  from  these 
subdivisions  and  limitations.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  only 
rare  inner  force  can  break  through  the  limits  set  up 
around  the  human  being  by  those  who  influence  him. 
Even  this  can  be  accomplished  only  by  a  violent  effort 
that  threatens  to  destroy,  or,  at  least,  to  check  and  dis- 
turb, other  phases  of  development.  Therefore,  there  is 
throughout  life  somewhat  of  violence  in  the  actions  of 
a  man  who  has  done  this  at  any  stage  of  his  develop- 
ment. 

How  different  could  this  be  in  every  respect,  if  par- 
ents were  to  view  and  treat  the  child  with  reference 
to  all  stages  of  development  and  age,  without  breaks 
and  omissions ;  if,  particularly,  they  were  to  consider 
the  fact  that  the  vigorous  and  complete  development 
and  cultivation  of  each  successive  stage  depends  on  the 
vigorous,  complete,  and  characteristic  development  of 
each  and  all  preceding  stages  of  life  I     Parents  are  espe- 


CONTINUITY   OF   GROWTH.  29 

cially  prone  to  overlook  and  disregard  this.  When  the 
human  being  has  reached  the  age  of  boyhood,  they  look 
upon  him  as  a  boy;  when  he  has  reached  the  age  of 
youth  or  manhood,  they  take  him  to  be  a  youth  or  a 
man.  Yet  the  boy  has  not  become  a  boy,  nor  has  the 
youth,  become  a  youth,  by  reaching  a  certain  age,  but 
only  by  having  lived  through  childhood,  and,  further 
on,  through  boyhood,  true  to  the  requirements  of  his 
mind,  his  feelings,  and  his  body ;  similarly,  adult  man 
has  not  become  an  adult  man  by  reaching  a  certain  age, 
but  only  by  faithfully  satisfying  the  reg^uirements  of  his 
childhood,  boyhood,  and  youth.  Parents  and  fathers, 
in  other  respects  quite  sensible  and  efficient,  expect  not 
only  that  the  child  should  begin  to  show  himself  a  boy 
or  a  youth,  but,  more  particularly,  that  the  boy,  at  least, 
should  show  himself  a  man,  that  in  all  his  conduct  he 
should  be  a  man,  thus  jumping  the  stages  of  boyhood 
and  youth.  To  see  and  respect  in  the  child  and  boy 
the  germ  and  promise  of  the  coming  youth  and  man  is 
very  diflEerent  from  considering  and  treating  him  as  if 
he  were  already  a  man ;  very  different  from  asking  the 
child  or  boy  to  show  himself  a  youth  or  man ;  to  feel, 
to  think,  and  to  conduct  himself  as  a  youth  or  a  man. 
Parents  who  ask  this  overlook  and  forget  that  they 
themselves  became  mature  and  efficient  only  in  so  far 
as  they  lived  through  the  various  stages  in  natural  suc- 
cession and  in  certain  relationships  which  they  would 
have  their  child  to  forego  (see  §  28). 

This  disregard  of  the  value  of  earlier,  and  particu- 
larly of  the  earliest,  stages  of  development  with  refer- 
ence to  later  ones,  prepares  for  the  future  teacher  and 
educator  of  the  boy  difficulties  which  it  will  be  scarcely 


30  THE  EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

possible  to  overcome.  In  tlie  first  place,  the  boy  so  con- 
ditioned has  also  a  notion  that  it  is  possible  for  him  to 
do  wholly  without  the  instruction  and  training  of  the 
preceding  stage  of  developmeut;  in  the  second  place, 
he  is  much  injured  and  w^eakened  by  having  placed  be- 
fore himself,  at  an  early  period,  an  extraneous  aim  for 
imitation  and  exertion,  such  as  preparation  for  a  certain 
calling  or  sphere  of  activity.  Tlie  child^  the  hoy,  man, 
\indeed,  should  know  no  other  endeavor  hut  to  he  at  every 
\stage  of  development  wholly  what  this  stage  calls  for. 
jThen  will  each  successive  stage  spring  like  a  new  shoot 
from  a  healthy  bud;  and,  at  each  successive  stage,  he 
will  with  the  same  endeavor  again  accompHsh  the  re- 
quirements of  this  stage  :  for  only  the  adequate  develop- 
ment of  man  at  each  preceding  stage  can  effect  and 
bring  about  adequate  development  at  each  succeeding 
later  stage. 

§  23.  It  is  especially  needful  to  consider  this  in  the 
development  and  cultivation  of  human  activity  for  the 
pursuits  of  practical  industry. 

At  present  the  popular  notions  of  work  and  the  pur- 
suits of  practical  industry  are  wholly  false,  superficial, 
untenable,  oppressive,  debasing,  devoid  of  all  elements 
of  life. 

God  creates  and  worhs  productively  in  uninter- 
rupted continuity.  Each  thought  of  God  is  a  work,  a 
deed,  a  product ;  and  each  thought  of  God  continues  to 
work  with  creative  power  in  endless  productive  acti^aty 
to  all  eternity.  Let  him  w4io  has  not  seen  this  behold 
Jesus  in  his  life  and  works ;  let  him  behold  genuine  life 
and  work  in  man ;  let  him,  if  he  truly  lives,  behold  his 
own  life  and  work. 


CREATIVENESS.  31 

The  Spirit  of  God  hovered  over  chaos,  and  moved 
it ;  and  stones  and  plants,  beasts  and  man  took  form 
and  separate  being  and  life.  God  created  man  in  hiA 
own  image ;  therefore^  man  should  create  and  hringj 
forth  like  God.  His  spirit,  the  spirit  of  man,  should\ 
hover  over  the  shapeless,  and  move  it  that  it  may  take 
shape  and  form,  a  distinct  being  and  life  of  its  own. 
This  is  the  high  meaning,  the  deep  significance,  the 
gi-eat  pm-pose  of  work  and  industry,  of  productive  and 
creative  activity.  We  become  truly  godHke  in  dili- 
gence and  industry,  in  working  and  doing,  which  are 
accompanied  by  the  clear  perception  or  even  by  the 
vaguest  feeling  that  thereby  we  represent  the  inner  in 
the  outer;  that  we  give  body  to  spirit,  and  form  to 
thought ;  that  we  render  visible  the  invisible ;  that  we 
impart  an  outward,  finite,  transient  being  to  life  in  the 
spirit.  Through  this  godlikeness  we  rise  more  and 
more  to  a  true  knowledge  of  God,  to  insight  into  his^ 
Spirit ;  and  thus,  inwardly  and  outwardly,  God  comes 
ever  nearer  to  us.  Therefore,  Jesus  so  truly  says  in 
this  connection  of  the  poor,  "  Theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,"  if  they  could  but  see  and  know  it  and  practice 
it  in  diligence  and  industry,  in  productive  and  creative 
work.  Of  children,  too,  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven ; 
for,  unchecked  by  the  presumption  and  conceit  of  adults, 
they  yield  themselves  in  childlike  trust  and  cheerful- 
ness to  their  formative  and  creative  instinct  (see  §  49).  .   ^ 

[How  deeply  Froebel  valued  the  creative  activity,  and  how  con-  * 
stantly  he  studied  to  keep  it  from  degenerating  into  destnictive- 
ness,  appears  from  the  account  of  "  a  visit  to  Froebel,"  by  Bormann. 
He  writes,  in  speaking  of  the  building-games :  "  Two  things  seemed 
to  me  particularly  interesting  and  significant.  Froebel  never  per- 
mitted the  children  to  destroy  an  old  form  built  by  them  for  the 


32  THE  EDUCATIOX  OF  MAN. 

sake  of  building  a  new  one  with  the  same  material,  but  insisted  that 
the  new  formations  should  be  made  (by  suitable  changes)  from  the 
old  ones.  Thus  he  avoids  haste,  and  awakens  thoughtfulness  and 
patience,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  inspires  respect  for  existing  things, 
and  teaches  at  an  early  period  not  to  build  from  the  ruins  of  de- 
stroyed things,  but  to  build  up  in  an  orderly  manner  from  the 
things  that  are." — Tr.] 

The  debasing  illusion  that  man  works,  produces, 
creates  only  in  order  to  preserve  his  body,  in  order  to 
secure  food,  clothing,  and  shelter,  may  have  to  be  en- 
dured, but  should  not  be  diffused  and  propagated.  Pri- 
.y  marily  and  in  truth  man  works  only  that  his  spiritual, 
X  ^  divine  essence  may  assume  outward  form,  and  that 
■  thus  he  may  be  enabled  to  recognize  his  own  spiritual, 
divine  nature  and  the  innermost  being  of  God.  What- 
ever food,  clothing,  and  shelter  he  obtains  thereby 
comes  to  him  as  an  insignificant  surplus.  Therefore 
Jesus  says,  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  i.  e., 
the  realization  of  the  divine  spirit  in  your  life  and 
through  your  life,  and  whatever  else  your  finite  life 
may  require  will  be  added  unto  you. 

Again,  Jesus  says,  "My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  oi 
him  who  sent  me,"  to  work  and  accomplish  whatever 
God  has  enjoined  me  to  do  and  as  he  has  enjoined  me 
to  do. 

Thus  the  lilies  of  the  field — which,  in  the  ordinary 
human  sense,  do  not  toil — are  clothed  by  God  more 
splendidly  than  Solomon  in  all  his  glory.  But  does 
not  the  lily  put  forth  leaves  and  blossoms ;  does  it  not 
in  its  whole  outward  being  reveal  the  inner  being  of 
God? 

The  fowls  of  the  air,  in  a  human  sense,  neither  sow 
nor  toil,  but  do  they  not  in  their  song,  in  the  building 


"THE  KINGDOM  OF   HEAVEN."  33 

of  their  nests,  in  all  their  manifold  and  varied  actions, 
reveal  the  spirit  and  life  which  God  has  put  into  them  ? 
And  God  feeds  and  keeps  them. 

Thus  should  man  learn  from  the  lilies  of  the  field 
and  from  the  fowls  of  the  air  to  reveal  in  his  outward 
work  and  deeds — however  small  and  trifling,  or  great 
and  weighty  they  may  be  at  the  time — the  spirit  that 
God  has  breathed  into  him,  as  place  and  time,  po- 
sition or  calling  in  life  may  require.  Then  his  suste- 
nance will  take  care  of  itself.  God  will  show  him  a 
hundred  ways ;  his  intelligence  will  surely  always  indi- 
cate to  him  within  himself  or  in  his  surroundings  one 
way  or  means — and  what  more  does  he  need  ? — to  sat- 
isfy his  earthly  necessities.  And  if  all  about  him  should 
fail  him,  he  has  left  within  himself — not  only  undimin- 
ished, but,  indeed,  developed  in  a  higher  degree — the 
divine  power  of  allaying  want  by  patient  endurance. 

Now,  all  spiritual  effects  as  finite  manifestations  sup- 
pose a  succession  of  time  and  events.  If,  therefore,  at 
any  time  in  his  life  man  has  neglected  to  respect  in  the 
use  of  his  powers  their  divine  nature  and  to  exalt  them 
to  work,  or,  at  least,  to  develop  them  for  work,  lie  will 
necessarily  and  unavoidably  be  overtaken  by  want  in 
proportion  to  his  neglect.  At  least,  he  will  not,  at 
some  time,  reap  what  he  could  have  reaped,  had  he,  in 
the  use  of  his  powers,  in  his  calling,  always  respected 
their  divine  nature ;  for,  in  accordance  with  the  earthly 
and  universal  laws  under  which  we  live,  the  results  of 
that  neglected  activity  would  have  appeared  at  some 
time.  Now,  if  the  activity  was  neglected,  how  can  its 
results  appear  ?  If,  then,  at  any  time  such  want  over- 
take him,  man  has  no  other  alternative  than  to  let  the 


34  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

second  side  of  his  spiritual  power,  renunciation  and 
endurance,  come  into  plaj  in  order  to  allay  the  want, 
and  to  labor  most  diligently  in  order  to  avoid  all  similar 
want  for  the  future. 

The  young,  growing  human  being  should,  therefore, 
jbe  trained  early  for  outer  work,  for  creative  and  pro- 
ductive activity.  For  this  there  exists  a  double  reason, 
an  inner  and  an  outer  requirement ;  and  the  former,  in- 
asmuch as  it  includes  the  latter,  is  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance and  eternal.  The  requirement  is  supported, 
too,  by  the  nature  of  man  as  such  (see  §  87). 

The  activity  of  the  senses  and  limbs  of  the  infant  is 
the  first  germ,  the  first  bodily  activity,  the  bud,  the 
first  formative  impulse;  play,  building,  modeling  are  the 
first  tender  blossoms  of  youth  (see  §  30) ;  and  this  is  the 
period  when  man  is  to  be  prepared  for  future  industry, 
diligence,  and  productive  activity,  ffivery  child,  boy, 
and  youth,  whatever  his  condition  or  position  in  life, 
should  devote  daily  at  least  one  or  two  hours  to  some 
serious  activity  in  the  production  of  some  definite  ex- 
ternal piece  of  work.  "Lessons  through  and  by  work, 
through  and  from  \iie,Are  by  far  the  most  impressive 
and  intelligible,  and  most  continuously  and  intensely 
progressive  both  in  themselves  and  in  their  effect  on  the 
learner.  ^Notwithstanding  this,  children — mankind,  in- 
deed— are  at  present  too  much  and  too  variously  con- 
cerned with  aimless  and  purjooseless  pursuits,  and  too 
little  with  work.  Children  and  parents  consider  the 
activity  of  actual  work  so  much  to  their  disadvantage, 
and  so  unimportant  for  their  future  conditions  in  life, 
that  educational  institutions  should  make  it  one  of  their 
most  constant  endeavors  to  dispel  this  delusion.  \\The 


RELIGION,   INDUSTRY,   TEMPERANCE.  35 

domestic  and  scholastic  education  of  our  time  leads 
children  to  indolence^nd  laziness;  a  vast  amount  of 
human  power  thereby  remains  undeveloped  and  is  lost. 
It  would  be  a  most  wholesome  arrangement  in  schools 
to  establish  actual  working  hours  similar  to  the  existing 
study  hours ;  and  it  will  surely  come  to  this.  By  the 
current  practice  of  using  his  powers  so  sparingly  and 
in  reference  only  to  outer  requirements,  man  has  lost 
their  inner  and  outer  measure,  and,  therefore,  fails 
adequately  to  know,  appreciate,  respect,  and  faithfully 
guard  them. 

As  for  religion,  so,  too,  for  industry^  early  cultivation 
is  highly  important.  Early  work,  guided  in  accordance 
with  its  inner  meaning,  confirms  and  elevates  religion. 
Religion  without  industry,  without  work,  is  liable  to  be 
lost  in  empty  dreams,  worthless  visions,  idle  fancies. 
Similarly,  work  or  industry  without  religion  degrades 
man  into  a  beast  of  burden,  a  machine.  Work  and  re- 
ligion must  be  simultaneous ;  for  God,  the  Eternal,  has 
been  creating  from  all  eternity.  Were  this  fully  recog- 
nized, were  men  thoroughly  impressed  with  this  truth, 
were  they  to  act  and  work  in  conformity  to  it  in  life, 
what  a  height  could  mankind  soon  attain ! 

Yet  human  power  should  be  developed,  cultivated, 
and  manifested,  not  only  in  inner  repose,  as  religion  and 
religious  spirit ;  not  only  in  outward  efficiency,  as  work 
and  industry ;  but  also — withdrawing  upon  itself  and  its 
own  resources — in  abstinence,  temperance,  and  frugality. 
Is  it  needful  to  do  more  than  indicate  this  to  a  human 
being  not  wholly  at  variance  with  himself?  Where 
religion^  industry,  and  temperance,  the  truly  undivided 
trinity,  rule  in  harmony,  in  true  pristine  unity,  there, 


36  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

indeed,   is  heaven  upon  earth— peace,   joy,  salvation, 
grace,  blessedness. 

Thus  is  seen  in  the  child  man  as  a  whole ;  thus  the 
unity  of  humanity  and  of  man  appears  in  childhood ; 
thus  the  whole  future  activity  of  man  has  its  germs  in 
the  child.  And  it  can  not  be  otherwise.  If  we  would 
develop  man  and  in  him  humanity  as  a  whole,  we  must 
view  him  even  in  the  child  as  a  unit  and  in  all  his 
earthly  relations.  Now,  since  unity  in  the  finite  mani- 
festations implies  diversity,  and  since  all  all-sidedness 
in  the  finite  manifestations  impHes  a  succession  in  time, 
the  world  and  life  are  unfolded  for  the  child  and  in  the 
child  in  diversity  and  succession.  Similarly,  powers 
and  tendencies,  the  activities  of  the  senses  and  limbs, 
should  be  developed  in  the  order  in  which  they  appear 
in  the  child. 

[Froebel's  demand  for  manual  training  in  education  has  been 
adopted  quite  generally.  However,  the  utterances  of  this  need  relate 
largely  to  industrial  considerations.  It  is  claimed  that  the  chiefly 
literary  character  of  school  education  does  not  meet  the  demands  of 
the  world's  industrial  interests ;  that  there  is  a  dearth  of  talent  and 
skill  in  industrial  pursuits,  and  a  consequent  excess  of  applicants  for 
the  learned  professions  and  for  commercial  and  clerical  work ;  that 
labor  is  shunned  as  degrading,  instead  of  being  sought  as  ennobling ; 
and  that  consequently  pauperism  and  crime,  as  the  results  of  enforced 
idleness,  are  on  the  increase. 

There  is  much  force  in  these  claims,  and,  unquestionably,  man- 
ual training  will  do  much  to  meet  the  evils  they  disclose.  Yet  the 
need  of  manual  training  as  an  educational  factor  lies  deeper — in  the 
demand  for  full,  all-sided  development  in  all  relations  of  life.  In 
this  sense  manual  training  is  as  much  a  need  of  the  professional  and 
literary  man,  of  the  merchant  and  clerk,  of  the  capitalist  and  land- 
owner, as  it  is  of  the  artist  and  artisan,  of  the  laborer  and  farmer; 
as  much  a  need  of  woman  as  it  is  of  man :  its  need  rests  on  the  im- 
manent being  of  man  more  than  on  a  transient  industrial  need. 


MANUAL  TRAINING.  37 

It  has  long  been  conceded  that  experience,  and,  primarily,  direct 
personal  experience,  furnishes  the  material  for  human  insight  and 
conduct.  Until  quite  lately,  however,  the  school  has  recognized  this 
fact  only  in  the  in-leading  processes  of  intellectual  growth,  which 
are  now  largely  based  on  direct  personal  contact  with  things  and 
life.  In  the  out-leading  processes  of  intellectual  growth,  in  the  ex- 
pression of  ideas,  the  school  is  still  satisfied  with  words  and  ignores 
the  value  of  things ;  it  recognizes,  indeed,  the  debt  of  gratitude  the 
intellect  owes  to  the  reflex  influence  which  comes  from  efforts  to 
formulate  knowledge  in  words,  but  neglects  the  plastic  expression  of 
ideas  by  the  hands  which  hold  to  their  formulation  in  words  the 
same  relation  that  things  hold  to  symbols  in  impression. 

Thus,  in  the  study  of  the  cube,  the  child  will  probably  first  see 
the  cube,  handle  it,  use  it  in  his  plays,  and  thus  gain  many  notions 
concerning  its  shape.  These  may  be  expressed  in  words,  and  plas- 
tically in  clay.  Both  modes  of  expression  will  react  favorably  upon 
the  child's  idea  of  the  shape ;  but  the  efforts  at  plastic  representation 
will  be  found  much  more  effectual  in  clearing  the  idea  of  inaccura- 
cies and  imperfections. .  At  every  step  the  child  has  opportunities  to 
compare  the  representation  of  his  idea  with  the  idea  and  with  the 
original,  to  correct  faults  and  to  supply  omissions. 

While,  therefore,  this  manual  training  gives  skill  for  industrial 
pursuits,  and  lifts  work  to  a  high  place  in  the  respect  and  gratitude 
of  the  child,  it  supplies  imperative  needs  of  permanent  self-expansion 
as  no  other  educational  agency  can  do.  Of  course,  this  manual  train- 
ing should  adapt  the  material  of  work  to  the  capacities  and  needs  of 
the  little  workers,  so  that  it  may  yield  readily  to  their  limited  skill, 
adapt  itself  without  worry  to  their  aims,  and  thus  secure  for  manual 
expression  an  automatism  similar  to  that  of  speech.  Again,  the  ex- 
ternal products  of  this  manual  training  are  more  symbolical  than 
practical — the  real  product  lies  in  the  child.  In  this  it  passes  beyond 
mere  industrial  training,  whose  products  are  chiefly  practical  and 
external.  Similarly,  this  manual  training  would  lead  beyond  the 
mere  artisanship  of  industrial  training  to  true  creative  art. 

With  proper  guidance  this  systematic  manual  training  becomes 
the  most  powerful  agency  in  securing  for  the  pupil  the  habit  of  suc- 
cess, a  calm  sense  of  power,  a  firm  conviction  of  mastership,  which 
are  so  essential  to  fullness  of  life,  and  almost  indispensable  to  the 
success  of  the  school. 

That  Froebel,  in  his  recommendations  of  the  school  workshop, 
5 


38  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

was  guided  by  these  larger  views,  appears  from  his  announcement  of 
the  Volkserziehungsanstalt  at  Helba,  a  project  which  he,  unfortu- 
nately, never  realized.  This  announcement  was  made  in  1829,  in  the 
full  flush  of  the  hopes  kindled  in  Froebel's  breast  by  the  recently 
won  favor  of  the  Duke  of  Meiningen.  In  the  announcement  he  writes : 
*'  The  institution  will  be  fundamental,  inasmuch  as  in  training  and 
instruction  it  will  rest  on  the  foundation  from  which  proceed  all 
genuine  knowledge  and  all  genuine  practical  attainments ;  it  will 
rest  on  life  itself  and  on  creative  effort,  on  the  union  and  interde- 
pendence of  doing  and  thinking,  representation  and  knowledge,  art 
and  science.  The  institution  will  base  its  work  on  the  pupil's  per- 
sonal efforts  in  work  and  expression,  making  these,  again,  the  foun- 
dation of  all  genuine  knowledge  and  culture.  Joined  with  thought- 
fulness,  these  efforts  become  a  direct  medium  of  culture ;  joined  with 
reasoning,  they  become  a  direct  means  of  instruction,  and  thus  make 
of  work  a  true  subject  of  instruction." 

Froebel  proposed  to  devote  the  forenoon  to  instruction  in  the 
current  subjects  of  school  study,  and  the  afternoon  to  work  in  the 
field,  the  garden,  the  forest,  in  and  around  the  house.  His  list  of 
occupations  comprised  the  preparation  of  wood  for  the  kitchen  and 
the  furnace ;  the  making  of  simple  wooden  kitchen  utensils ;  the 
weaving  and  binding  of  mats  for  the  table  and  for  the  floor ;  the 
binding  of  books  and  the  ruling  of  slates  and  practice-paper ;  the 
making  of  a  variety  of  collections  of  objects  of  nature  and  art,  and  of 
suitable  boxes  for  these  objects ;  the  care  of  the  garden,  the  orchard, 
the  field ;  the  plaiting  of  straw  mats  for  the  hot-beds,  and  basket- 
making  ;  the  care  of  pigeons,  chickens,  ducks,  etc. ;  the  preparation 
of  artistic  and  geometrical  forms  with  paper  in  folding,  cutting,  and 
mounting,  pricking,  weaving,  interlacing,  etc. ;  the  use  of  paste- 
board in  the  making  of  stars,  wheels,  boxes,  napkin-rings,  card- 
baskets,  lamp-shades,  etc. ;  play  with  splints,  tablets,  sticks  and  peas ; 
the  whittling  of  boats,  windmills,  water-wheels,  etc. ;  the  making  of 
chains  and  baskets  from  flexible  wire ;  modeling  with  clay ;  draw- 
ing and  painting ;  and  many  other  things. 

Froebel's  project  failed  ;  yet  much  of  the  seed  he  had  scattered 
broadcast  had  fallen  on  good  soil.  A  stray  grain  had  taken  root  in 
distant  Finland,  where,  in  1866,  Cygnaeus,  an  ardent  admirer  of 
Froebel,  introduced  slojd  (wood-work)  as  an  obligatory  branch  of  in- 
struction in  the  schools  of  his  countiy.  The  success  of  Finland 
aroused  Sweden,  and  brought  support  to  Clausen-Kaas  in  Denmark. 


SCHOOL  WORKSHOPS.  39 

In  1875  this  man  was  invited  by  admirers  of  Froebel  to  visit  Dresden 
to  bring  to  them  a  gospel  which  Germany  is  gradually  recognizing 
as  the  neglected  gift  of  one  of  her  own  sons.  In  the  mean  while  the 
thought  had  found  an  earnest  advocate  in  Dr.  Schwab,  at  Vienna, 
through  whose  vigorous  agitation  Austria-Hungary  is  dotted  all 
over  with  school  gardens  and  school  workshops ;  and  in  1882  France 
decreed  that  in  her  common  schools  "  boys  and  girls  shall  devote  two 
or  three  hours  per  week  to  instruction  in  manual  work  {travaux 
manuehy 

In  the  further  special  directions  for  carrying  out  this  law  in  the 
schools  of  France,  the  following  points  are  of  interest :  Boys  from 
seven  to  nine  years  old  are  to  be  instructed  in  manual  exercises  to 
develop  manual  dexterity,  in  cutting  geometrical  figures  from  paste- 
board, in  basket-making,  in  modeling  geometrical  figures  and  simple 
objects ;  boys  from  nine  to  eleven  years  old  are  to  be  taught  the 
manufacture  of  pasteboard  articles  to  be  covered  with  glazed  paper, 
in  bending  iand  plaiting  iron  wire,  in  the  manufacture  of  objects 
from  wire  and  wood  (e.  g.,  bird-cages),  in  the  modelfng  of  architect- 
ural ornaments,  in  the  use  of  the  commonest  tools ;  boys  from  eleven 
to  thirteen  years  old  have  practice  in  drawing  and  modeling,  in  the 
use  of  tools  for  working  in  wood  (planes,  saws,  simple  joints,  turn- 
ing-lathes), and  in  the  use  of  the  file  and  other  tools  for  smoothing 
metal  casts  and  working  in  iron. 

In  all  these  cases  the  educational  influence  of  work  as  a  crea- 
tive and  expressional  activity  constitutes  the  chief  consideration. 
They  look  to  the  establishment  of  true  school  workshops,  i.  e.,  work- 
shops that  serve  the  purposes  of  the  school,  which  cejiter  in  the  ade- 
quate development  of  the  physical  and  psychical  powers  of  a  com- 
plete human  being,  destined  to  the  mastership  of  inner  and  outer  life. 
They  differ  in  this  respect  from  manual  training-schools,  technical 
schools,  industrial  schools  of  all  names,  whose  specific  aim  is  prepa- 
ration for  efficiency  in  engineering  or  industrial  pursuits.  Of 
course,  in  the  latter,  too,  the  work  will  not  be  without  educational 
influence,  but  this  is  a  secondary  consideration  of  little  moment 
compared  with  the  specific  objects  of  the  schools  in  question. 
Schools  of  this  character  existed  in  all  the  countries  named'  above 
long  before  the  introduction  of  the  school  workshop  as  an  adjunct 
of  the  common  school. — Tr.l 


II. 


MAN  m  THE    PERIOD   OF    EARLIEST   CHILD- 
HOOD. 

§  24.  Although  in  itself  at  all  times  made  up  of  tlie 
same  objects  and  of  the  same  organization,  the  external 
world  comes  to  the  child  at  first  out  of  its  void — as  it 
were,  in  misty,  formless  indistinctness,  in  chaotic  confu- 
sion— even  the  child  and  the  outer  world  merge  into 
each  other.  At  an  early  period  there  come,  too,  on  the 
part  of  the  parents,  corresponding  words  which  at  first 
separate  the  child  from  the  outer  world,  but  afterward 
reunite  them.  With  the  help  of  these  words,  these 
objects  present  themselves,  at  first  singly  and  rarely,  but 
later  in  various  combinations  and  more  frequently,  in 
their  self-contained  fixed  individuahty.  At  last  man — 
the  child — beholds  himself  as  a  definite  individual  ob- 
ject, wholly  distinct  from  all  others. 

Thus,  in  the  mind  of  man,  in  the  history  of  his 
mental  development,  in  the  growth  of  his  consciousness, 
in  the  experience  of  every  child  from  the  time  of  his 
appearance  on  earth  to  the  time  when  he  consciously 
beholds  himself  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  in  beautiful  na- 
ture spread  out  before  him,  there  is  repeated  the  history 
of  the  creation  and  development  of  all  things,  as  the 


/ 

MAN  IN  EARLIEST  CHILDHOOD.  41 

holy  books  relate  it.  Similarly,  in  each  child  there  is 
repeated  at  a  later  period  the  deed  which  marks  the 
beginning  of  moral  and  human  emancipation,  of  the 
dawn  of  reason — essentially  the  same  deed  that  marked, 
and,  inasmuch  as  the  race  was  destined  for  freedom, 
must  mark,  the  moral  and  human  emancipation,  the 
dawn  of  reason  in  the  race  as  a  whole. 

Every  human  being  who  is  attentive  to  his  own  de- 
velopment may  thus  recognize  and  study  in  himself  the 
history  of  the  development  of  the  race  to  the  point  it 
may  have  reached,  or  to  any  fixed  point.  For  this  pur- 
pose he  should  view  his  own  hfe  and  that  of  others  at 
all  its  stages  as  a  continuous  whole,  developing  in  ac- 
cordance with  divine  laws.  Only  in  this  way  can  man 
reach  an  understanding  of  history,  of  the  history  of 
human  development  as  well  as  of  himself,  the  history 
and  phenomena,  the  events  of  his  own  development, 
the  history  of  his  own  heart,  of  his  own  feelings  and 
thoughts ;  only  in  this  way  can  he  learn  to  understand 
others  ;  only  in  tliis  way  can  parents  hope  to  understand 
their  child  (see  §  16). 

[Of  course,  this  is  to  be  taken  in  a  general  sense.  Froebel's  idea 
is  not  that  each  human  being  must  imitate  the  various  phases  of 
human.development  from  savagery  to  present  civilization,  and  labori- 
ously wade  through  the  grossness,  ignorance,  and  wickedness  of  past 
generations  to  the  refinement,  culture,  and  good-will  of  our  day. 
Froebel's  thought  is,  rather,  that  the  various  instincts  and  tenden- 
cies of  life  are  developed  in  each  human  being  in  the  same  general 
order  in  which  we  find  them  developed  in  humanity  as  a  whole. 
This  is  amply  illustrated  in  the  pages  of  this  work,  and  needs  no  ad- 
ditional elucidation.    (See  also  note,  §  16.) — Tr.} 

§  25.  To  make  the  internal  external,  and  the  exter- 
nal internal,  to  find  the  unity  for  both,  this  is  the  gen- 


42  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

eral  external  form  in  which  man's  destiny  is  expressed 
(see  §  14).  Therefore,  every  external  object  comes  to 
man  with  the  invitation  to  determine  its  nature  and  re- 
lationships. For  this  he  has  his  senses,  the  organs  that 
enable  him  to  meet  that  invitation.  This  is  exhaustively 
indicated  in  the  word  S-inn  (sense),  or  self -active  mter- 
nalization.* 

Every  thing  and  every  being,  however,  comes  to  be 
known  only  as  it  is  connected  with  the  opposite  of  its 
kind,  and  as  its  unity,  its  agreement  with  this  opposite, 
its  equation  with  reference  to  this  is  discovered;  and 
the  completeness  of  this  knowledge  depends  upon  the 
completeness  of  this  connection  with  the  respective 
opposite,  and  upon  the  complete  discovery  of  the  con- 
necting thought  or  link. 

[The  law  of  the  connection  of  contrasts  Froebel  designates  vari- 
ously as  the  law  of  development  and  as  the  law  of  unification.  To 
Fichte  and  Hegel  this  is  a  law  of  mere  thought ;  to  Froebel  it  is 
more  a  law  of  life.  In  a  letter  to  Krause,  written  in  1828,  he  states 
this  quite  clearly  in  these  words :  "  I  see  the  simple  course  of  devel- 
opment progressing  from  analysis  to  synthesis,  which  appears  in 
pure  thought,  also  in  the  development  of  every  living  thing."  When, 
in  1850,  Poesche  and  Benfey  in  his  presence  compared  this  law 
with  Fichte's  law  of  the  idealistic  constitution  of  things,  and  with 
Hegel's  dialectic  method,  he  said :  "  It  is  both  of  these,  and  yet  has 
nothing  in  common  with  either  of  them ;  it  is  the  law  which  the 
contemplation  of  nature  has  taught  me,  and  which  I  offer  to  chil- 
dren to  guide  them  in  their  development."  The  high  place  it  occu- 
pied in  his  life  he  revealed  to  Diesterweg  in  1849 :  "  The  pantheistic 
view  of  life  belongs  to  the  past :  we  see  no  longer  an  inseparable 
One,  but  a  Three.  Trinity  has  become  a  corner-stone  which  people 
had  rejected  because  they  did  not  understand  its  meaning.  To 
eyes  that  can  see,  the  trinity  of  God  is  manifest  in  all  his  works.    Do 

*  A  play  on  the  word  Sinn  and  ^elbsthatige  iKS-erUchmachung  (sense 
and  self-active  internalization). — Tr. 


LAW  OF  CONTRASTS. 


43 


we  not  everywhere  see  the  Three  in  contrasts  and  their  connection? 
And  where  do  we  find  absolute  contrasts,  contrasts  (opposites)  that 
have  not  somewhere  or  somehow  a  connection  ?  In  action  and  re- 
action the  contrasts  that  we  see  everywhere  give  rise  to  the  motions 
in  the  universe  as  they  do  in  the  smallest  organism.  This  implies 
for  all  development  a  struggle,  which,  however,  sooner  or  later  will 
find  its  adjustment;  and  this  adjustment  is  the  connection  of  con- 
trasts resulting  in  harmony  among  all  the  parts  of  the  whole."  A 
comparatively  concise  statement  of  the  principal  applications  of  this 
law  in  education  will  be  found  in  the  italicized  words  near  the  close 
of  §  14, 

A  favorite  external  illustration  of  this  law  Froebel  finds  in  his 
Second  Gift,  consisting  of  the  ball,  cube,  and  cylinder.  The  ball 
and  cube  are  clear  contrasts ;  they  represent  the  one  and  the  many 
(in  the  faces),  rest  and  motion,  straight  and  curved.  They  find  their 
connection  in  the  cylinder,  which  has  one  curved  face  on  which  it 
moves,  and  many  (two)  straight  faces  on  which  it  rests.  In  his  Ham- 
burg lectures  of  1849  he  furnishes  the  following  systematic  presenta- 
tion of  all  development,  in  which  (— )  designates  fixed  or  constant, 
and  (+)  fluid  or  variable  elements,  and  (±)  the  connection  of  the 

two: 

Nature. 


Matter. 

I 


Spirit. 


I 

± 
Development. 


Development  of  macrocosm. 


Development 

of  the 

inorganic  world. 


I  I 

—  + 

Absolute  Air  and 

earthy      water 


matter 
(solid). 


(fluid). 


Chemical  com- 
bination. 
(Life  of  the 
inorganic  world.) 


Development 

of  the 
organic  world. 


1 

De- 
veloped 
earthy- 
matter. 


I 

+ 
Light 
and 
heat. 


I 

± 
Growth. 


Development  of  microcosm. 


Development 
of  the  body. 


Development 
of  the  mind. 


1 

Impres- 
sion 
(action) 
from  the 
outer 
world. 
I 


I 

+ 
Reaction 
of  the 
organ- 
ism. 


I 

Impression 

(action) 

of  the 

organism 

(experience 

—sensation). 


Reaction 
of  the 
mind 

(feeling— 
know- 


ing). 


I 

± 
Central  life- 
Self- mobility. 


I 

± 
Will— Action- 
Conduct. 


44 


THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 


Mind. 


Development 
of  experience. 

1  I 


I 

± 
Percept. 


Development 
of  knowledge. 


Impression       Fixing       Per- 
f  rom  of  the       cept. 

without,     impression. 


Abstrac- 
tion. 


Concept-idea. 


Development 
of  peace. 


Contem- 
plation. 


Faith. 


Development 
of  feeling. 

i 


I 

+         —  + 

Belief.      Peace.      Joy. 


± 
Freedom. 


In  a  highly  instructive  paper  on  this  subject,  Dr.  Hohlfeld  gives 
the  following  account  of  contrasts  and  their  mediation  or  connec- 
tion: 

In  their  quality,  the  terms  of  a  contrast  are  either  both  affirma- 
tive (contrary),  such  as  man  and  woman,  science  and  art,  God  and 
world,  or  only  one  of  the  terms  is  affirmative,  the  other  negative 
(contradictory),  such  as  yes  and  no,  ego  and  non-ego,  good  and  not- 
good.  The  latter  exist  only  in  abstraction ;  the  contradictory  con- 
trast simply  comprehends  in  a  convenient  fashion  the  sum  of  all  the 
contrary  contrasts  of  a  given  idea.  Thus  the  non-ego  comprehends 
all  existence  with  the  exception  of  the  ego. 

In  their  direction,  the  terms  of  a  contrast  are  either  rigJit  or 
oblique.  Of  these  the  former  are  either  co-ordinate  or  sub-ordinate. 
Nature  and  mind,  man  and  woman,  art  and  science  are  co-ordinate 
contrasts.  In  the  contrast  of  Grod  and  world,  whole  and  part,  body 
and  member,  the  second  term  is  subordinate  to  the  first.  Man  and 
animal,  animal  and  plant,  science  and  a  particular  art,  are  oblique 
contrasts. 

In  tiieir  modality,  contrasts  are  temporal,  eternal,  or  combine 
the  two. 

The  "  mediation,"  or  connection,  of  contrasts  is  either  direct  or 
indirect  (true  "  mediation  "),  and  the  former  is  eitlier  more  external 
or  more  internal.  Examples  of  more  external  direct  contrasts  we 
have  in  the  combination  of  a  horizontal  and  vertical  line  into  a  right 
angle  or  a  right  cross,  and  in  the  juxtaposition  of  blue  and  red. 
Examples  of  more  internal  contrasts  we  have  in  the  slanting  line 
which  partakes  of  both  the  horizontal  and  vertical  direction,  in  the 
mixture  of  blue  and  red  into  violet,  in  the  combination  of  sulphur 
and  mercury  into  cinnabar.  These  inner  direct  connections  are  ex- 
cellent "mediating"  links  between  the  simple  terms  of  the  con- 


ORDER  OF   SEXSES.  45 

trasts.    Thus,  slanting  mediates  between  horizontal  and  vertical, 
violet  between  blue  and  red,  etc. — Tr.] 

§  26.  The  objects  of  the  external  world  present 
themselves  to  man  in  a  more  or  less  solid,  liquid,  or 
gaseous  condition.  Accordingly,  man  finds  himself  en- 
dowed with  senses  that  apprehend  more  or  less  fully 
the  solid,  liquid,  or  gaseous  conditions. 

Again,  every  object  comes  to  man  in  a  state  of  pre- 
dominating rest  or  motion ;  and,  accordingly,  each  of 
these  senses  is  again  distributed  between  two  distinct 
organs,  of  which  one  is  fitted  more  to  give  a  knowledge 
of  objects  at  rest,  and  the  other  to  give  a  knowledge 
of  objects  in  motion.  Thus  the  sense  for  the  gaseous 
(aeriform)  is  distributed  between  the  eye  and  the  ear, 
the  sense  for  the  liquid  between  the  organs  of  taste  and 
smell,  the  sense  for  the  solid  between  the  organs  of 
feeling  and  touch.* 

In  accordance  with  the  law  of  contrasts  in  the  de- 
velopment of  knowledge,  the  sense  of  hearing  is  the 
first  to  be  developed  in  the  child ;  later  on,  there  fol- 
lows, guided  and  incited  by  hearing,  the  sense  of  sight. 
The  development  of  these  two  senses  in  the  child,  then, 
enables  parents  and  attendants  to  establish  a  most  inti- 
mate union  between  objects  and  their  opposites,  words 
and  symbols,  connecting  them  into  one,  as  it  were, 
thus  leading  the  child  to  see  and,  later  on,  to  know 
them. 

[Concerning  the  order  of  development  of  the  senses,  Froebel's 
position  may  require  modification.  Darwin's  child  "had  his  eyes 
fixed  on  a  candle  as  early  as  the  ninth  day,  and  up  to  the  forty-fifth 

*  The  sense  of  feeling  determines  the  temperature  and  mere  contact 
presence,  that  of  touch  the  hardness  and  smoothness  of  a  body. — Tr. 


46  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

day  nothing  else  seemed  thus  to  fix  them " ;  "  on  the  forty-ninth 
day  his  attention  was  attracted  by  a  bright-colored  tassel,  as  was 
shown  by  his  eyes  becoming  fixed  and  the  movements  of  his  arms 
ceasing."  It  is  true  that  "  during  the  first  fortnight  he  often  started 
on  hearing  any  sudden  sound,"  and  once,  when  he  was  sixty-six  days 
old,  he  was  frightened  into  nervous  crying  by  his  father's  sneezing ; 
but  these  were  probably  reflex  movements,  and  had  little  to  do  with 
true  hearing,  for,  even  when  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  days  old, 
he  found  it  difficult  "  to  recognize  whence  a  sound  proceeded."  All 
this  would  indicate  that,  in  time  of  development,  sight  had  the  pre- 
cedence. Mr.  Champneys  reports  that  his  child  had  his  eyes  fixed 
on  a  candle  when  a  week  old ;  not  until  the  fourteenth  day  did  he 
turn  to  his  mother  when  she  spoke  to  him,  and  "  even  then  did  not 
start  at  sudden  noises,  however  loud,  unless  accompanied  by  jerks 
or  vibrations."  M.  Taine  finds  the  first  positive  evidence  of  true 
hearing  at  two  and  a  half  months,  when  the  child,  "hearing  her 
grandmother's  voice,  turns  her  head  to  the  side  from  which  it 
comes."  It  will  be  noticed  that  all  these  observers  find  the  test  for 
accomplished  hearing  in  the  turning  of  the  head  (or  eyes)  toward 
the  point  whence  the  sound  proceeded.  This  seems  to  imply  that 
the  sense  of  sight  is  used  as  the  criterion,  and  must,  therefore,  have 
been  previously  developed. 

Preyer  found  his  child  decidedly  sensitive  to  light  "  long  before 
the  lapse  of  the  first  day  " ;  on  the  second  day  the  eyes  were  rapidly 
closed  on  the  approach  of  a  candle ;  on  the  ninth,  the  head  is  at  the 
same  time  energetically  averted  ;  on  the  tenth  day  the  candle,  held 
at  the  distance  of  one  metre,  is  viewed  without  flinching ;  on  the 
eleventh,  it  is  viewed  with  evidences  of  pleasure.  Color  seems  to 
make  an  impression  on  the  twenty-third  day :  and  after  the  first 
month  brilliant  objects  are  the  signal  for  exclamations  of  joy.  Con, 
cerning  the  sense  of  hearing,  Preyer  mentions  the  difficulty  of  separ 
rating  the  convulsive  movements  of  the  eyelids,  due  to  reflex  action 
from  other  causes,  from  similar  movements  due  to  sound-impres- 
sions. Not  until  the  first  half  of  the  fourth  day  can  he  convince 
himself  that  his  boy  has  ceased  to  be  deaf :  at  this  time  the  clapping 
of  hands  close  to  the  child  causes  him  suddenly  to  open  his  half- 
closed  eyes ;  on  the  same  day  whistling  near  his  ears  stops  his  cry- 
ing ;  on  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  day  the  father's  voice  has  a  sooth- 
ing effect ;  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  still  less  doubtful  symptoms  of 
sensitiveness  to  sound  are  noticed ;  in  the  sixth  week  he  shows  for 


USE   OF  LIMBS.  47 

the  first  time  appreciation  of  musical  sound,  being  soothed  by  the 
mother's  singing,  which  he  receives  with  eyes  wide  open. 

Thus,  along  the  entire  line,  sight  seems  to  be  in  advance :  the 
child  is  decidedly  sensitive  to  light  on  the  first  day,  but,  to  sound, 
not  before  the  fourth  day ;  color  impresses  the  child  on  the  twenty- 
third  day,  and  nmsical  sound  not  before  the  thirty-sixth.  Addi- 
tional proof  might  be  furnished,  but  this  must  sufiice  here.  It 
seems  to  indicate  clearly  enough  that  Froebel's  position  concerning 
these  two  senses  is  untenable. 

Later  on,  however,  Preyer  shows  that  to  neither  of  these  two 
senses  belongs  the  first  place  in  the  order  of  development,  but  that 
this  belongs  to  the  sense  of  taste,  which,  even  at  birth,  distinguishes 
sweet  things  from  bitter,  sour,  and  salt  things.  Similarly,  certain 
parts  of  the  body,  such  as  the  tongue  and  the  lips,  are  sensitive  to 
contact  with  external  things  at  birth ;  and  many  observations  point 
to  a  similar,  though  less  definite,  sensitiveness  to  certain  odors.  This 
seems  to  be  in  full  accord  with  the  biological  history  of  the  senses, 
which  shows  that  they  are  all  differentiations  from  a  general  contact 
sense  that  pervades  the  entire  mass  of  the  lowest  forms  of  individ- 
ualized protoplasm. 

When  the  senses,  however,  are  once  established,  it  seems  natural 
that  in  their  further  development  sight,  hearing,  and  specialized 
touch  should  take  the  lead.  More  than  the  other  senses — taste, 
smell,  and  the  general  contact  sense — they  enable  the  human  being 
in  his  efforts  to  separate  self  from  not-self  for  the  sake  of  securing 
control  of  the  latter.  And  in  this  further  development,  too,  sight 
and  touch,  leading  man  further  from  self  in  insight,  will  excel  hear- 
ing in  relative  importance  and  development. — Tr.'\ 

§  27.  With  tlie  advancing  development  of  tlie 
senses,  there  is  developed  in  the  child,  simultaneously 
and  symmetrically,  the  use  of  the  body,  of  the  limbs ; 
and  this,  too,  in  a  succession  determined  by  their  nature 
and  the  properties  of  corporeal  objects. 

External  objects  are  themselves  near,  at  rest,  and 
invite  rest;  or  they  are  in  motion,  moving  away, 
and  invite  seizure,  grasping,  holding  fast ;  or  they 
are  fixed  in  distant  places  or  spaces,  and  thus  invite 


48  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

him  who  would  bring  them  nearer  to  move  toward 
them. 

Thus  is  developed  the  use  of  the  limbs  in  sitting 
and  lying,  in  grasping  and  holding,  in  walking  and 
running. 

Standing  represents  the  use  of  the  body  and  limbs 
in  their  most  complete  totality ;  it  is  the  finding  of  the 
center  of  gravity  of  the  body. 

This  bodily  standing  is  as  significant  for  this  stage 
as  the  first  smile,  the  physical  finding  of  self,  was  for 
the  preceding  stage,  and  as  moral  and  religious  equi- 
poise is  for  the  highest  stage  of  human  development. 

At  this  stage  of  development  the  young,  growing 
human  being  cares  for  the  use  of  his  body,  his  senses, 
his  limbs,  merely  for  the  sake  of  their  use  and  practice, 
but  not  for  the  sake  of  the  results  of  this  use.  He  is 
wholly  indifferent  to  this ;  or,  rather,  he  has  as  yet  no 
idea  whatever  of  this.  For  this  reason  the  child  at  this 
stage  begins  to  jplay  with  his  limbs — his  hands,  his 
fingers,  his  lips,  his  tongue,  his  feet,  as  well  as  with  the 
expression  of  his  eyes  and  face  (see  §  30). 

Now,  as  has  been  just  indicated,  these  movements 
of  the  face  and  body  are,  at  first,  in  no  way  representa- 
tions of  the  internal  in  the  external ;  indeed,  this  is  re- 
served for  the  next  stage  of  development.  Yet  these 
plays,  as  the  first  utterances  of  the  child,  should  be  care- 
fully observed  and  watched,  lest  the  child  contract 
habitual  bodily  and,  particularly,  facial  movements  that 
have  no  inner  meaning  (e.  g.,  distortions  of  the  eyes  and 
face),  thus  inducing  at  an  early  period  a  separation  be- 
tween gestures  and  feelings,  between  body  and  mind, 
between  the  inner  and  the  outer.     This  separation,  in 


BEGINNING  OF  CHILDHOOD.  49 

its  turn,  might  lead  either  to  hypocrisy  or  to  the  forma- 
tion of  habitual  movements  and  manners  which  refuse 
obedience  to  the  will  and  accompany  man  like  a  mask 
through  all  his  life. 

From  a  very  early  period,  therefore,  children  should 
never  be  left  too  long  to  themselves  on  beds  or  in 
cradles  without  some  external  object  to  occupy  them. 
This  precaution  is  needful,  too,  in  order  to  avoid  bodily 
enervation,  which  necessarily  gives  rise  to  mental  enerva- 
tion and  weakness. 

In  order  to  avoid  this  enervation,  the  bed  of  children 
should  from  the  beginning,  from  the  very  first  moment, 
not  be  too  soft.  It  should  consist  of  pillows  of  hay, 
sea-grass,  fine  straw,  chaff,  or,  possibly,  horse-hair,  but 
never  of  feathers.  So,  too,  the  child  should  be  but 
lightly  covered  while  asleep,  securing  for  it  the  influ- 
ence of  fresh  air. 

In  order  to  avoid  leaving  the  child  on  its  bed  men- 
tally unoccupied  while  going  to  sleep,  and,  still  more, 
just  after  waking,  it  is  advisable  to  suspend  in  a  line 
with  the  child's  natural  vision,  a  swinging  cage  with  a 
lively  bird.*  This  secures  occupation  for  the  senses  and 
the  mind,  profitable  in  many  directions. 

§  28.  As  soon  as  the  activity  of  the  senses,  of  the 
body  and  the  limbs  is  developed  to  such  a  degree  that 
the  child  begins  self -actively  to  represent  the  internal 
outwardly,  the  stage  of  infancy  in  human  development 
ceases,  and  the  stage  of  childhood  begins. 


*  The  women  of  Appenzell,  naturally  great  lovers  of  liberty,  substi- 
tuted for  this  an  artificial  bird  cut  from  bright-colored  paper,  Froebel 
himself,  at  a  later  period,  proposed  the  substitution  of  the  balls  of  the  first 
gift.— 2>. 


60  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

Up  to  this  stage  the  inner  being  of  man  is  still  un- 
organized, nndiiferentiated. 

With  language,  the  expression  and  representation  of 
the  internal  begin  ;  with  language,  organization,  or  a 
differentiation  with  reference  to  ends  and  means,  sets  in. 
The  inner  being  is  organized,  differentiated,  and  strives 
to  make  itself  known  [Kund  thun),  to  announce  itself 
(ver^i^7i<^igen)  externally.  The  human  being  strives  by 
his  own  self -active  power  to  represent  his  inner  being 
outwardly,  in  permanent  form  and  with  solid  material ; 
and  this  tendency  is  expressed  fully  in  the  word  Kind 
(child),  K-in-d^^  which  designates  this  stage  of  develop- 
ment. 

At  this  stage  of  childhood  —  when  there  become 
manifest  the  tendency  and  endeavor  to  represent  the 
inner  in  and  through  the  outer,  and  to  unite  the  two,  to 
find  the  unity  that  connects  them — the  actual  education 
of  man  begins,  and  attention  and  watchful  care  are  di- 
rected less  to  the  body  and  more  to  the  mind. 

But  man  and  his  education  are,  at  this  stage,  wholly 
intrusted  to  the  mother,  the  father,  the  family,  who,  to- 
gether with  the  child,  constitute  a  complete,  unbroken 
unity.  For  language — the  medium  of  representation — 
audible  speaking  is  at  this  stage  in  no  way  differentiated 
from  the  human  being.  He  does  not,  as  yet,  know  or 
view  it  as  having  a  being  of  its  own.  Like  his  arm,  his 
eye,  his  tongue,  it  is  one  with  him,  and  he  is  uncon- 
scious of  its  existence. 

§  29.  However,  it  is  impossible  to  establish  among 
the  various  stages  of  human  development  and  cultiva- 

*  A  play  on  the  word  Kind^  probably  referring  back  to  the  worda 
KuHD  thun  and  verKtn<rDi(/en  in  the  same  paragraph. — Tr. 


IMPORTANCE   OF  CHILDHOOD.  51 

tion  any  definite  order  with  reference  to  their  relative 
degrees  of  importance,  except  the  necessary  order  of 
succession  in  their  appearance  in  which  the  earlier  is 
always  the  more  important.  In  its  place  and  time  each 
stage  is  equally  important.  Nevertheless,  inasmuch  as 
it  contains  the  development  of  the  first  points  of  con- 
nection and  union  with  surrounding  persons  and  things, 
the  first  approaches  toward  their  interpretation  and  un- 
derstanding, toward  the  comprehension  of  their  inuer 
being,  this  stage  (of  childhood)  is  of  paramount  im- 
portance (see  §  22). 

This  stage  is,  indeed,  important,  for  it  matters  much 
to  the  developing  human  being  whether  the  outer  world 
seem  to  him  noble  or  ignoble ;  low,  dead,  as  a  thing 
made  only  for  the  enjoyment  of  others — to  be  used, 
consumed,  destroyed,  or  as  having  a  destiny  of  its  own — 
high,  living,  spiritual,  animated,  and  divine ;  whether 
it  seem  to  him  pure  or  impure,  ennobling  and  uplifting, 
or  debasing  and  oppressive ;  whether  he  see  and  know 
things  in  their  true  or  in  false  distorted  relations. 

/Therefore,  the  child  at  this  stage  should  see  all 
things  rightly  and  accurately,  and  should  designate  them 
rightly  and  accurately,  definitely  and  clearly ;  and  this 
applies  to  things  and  objects  themselves,  as  well  as  to 
their  nature  and  properties. 

He  should  properly  designate  the  relations  of  ob- 
jects in  space  and  time,  as  well  as  with  one  another ; 
give  each  its  proper  name  or  word,  and  utter  each  word 
in  itself  clearly  and  distinctly  according  to  its  constitu- 
ent vocal  elements. 

[Mothers  and  other  attendants  of  children  not  unfrequently  re- 
tard this  unification  of  language  and  thought  by  excessive  indul- 


52  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

gence  in  so-called  "  baby-talk."  The  child  struggles  against  many 
difficulties  of  speech — calls  cows,  tows;  calves,  talves;  bread,  bed ; 
brown,  hown.  Fond  mothers  and  attendants  find  these  imperfections 
of  si)eech  so  very  sweet  that  they  imitate  them,  and  are  loath  to  have 
the  children  lose  these  charming  defects.  In  the  pernicious  indul- 
gence of  their  selfish  delight  they  even  intensify  the  faults  and  in- 
vent new  ones,  which  they  force  upon  the  child.  Such  inventions 
are  hannies,  for  hands ;  hootsy-iootsies,  for  feet ;  pets,  mammas,  dinks, 
and  other  unmeaning  plural  for  corresponding  singular  forms.  In 
all  such  cases  it  is  the  mother's  clear  duty  to  speak  plainly  and 
correctly,  in  order  to  aid  her  child  in  overcoming  the  troublesome 
difficulties  of  speech  involved.  She  need  not  on  this  account  address 
her  child  any  less  tenderly,  fondly,  and  soothingly. 

There  are,  indeed,  phases  of  "  baby-talk  "  that  are  not  open  to 
these  objections.  These  we  find  in  thoughtful  efforts  to  aid  the 
child  through  judicious  adaptation  of  our  efforts  to  his  difficulties. 
Thus,  as  soon  as  the  child  begins  his  meaningless  monologues, 
practicing  certain  sounds,  such  as  tattattatta  .  .  .,  appappappapp  .  .  ., 
dadadada  .  .  .,  rrrrrr  .  .  .,  the  attendants  may  sometimes  carefully 
join  in  these  exercises.  This  will  probably  teach  the  child  to  listen 
to  others  as  well  as  to  himself  more  attentively,  and  will  hasten  the 
time  when  he  will  find  himself  able  to  imitate  sounds  uttered  by 
others.  More  or  less  onomatopoetic  words  may,  for  a  time  at  least, 
be  received  into  the  legitimate  vocabulary  of  the  child.  Such  words 
are  moo,  for  cow ;  tin-tin,  for  bell ;  tchoo-tchoo,  for  locomotive,  etc. 
Yet  even  in  these  cases  the  ordinary  name  should  soon  be  connected 
regularly  with  the  onomatopoetic  name,  and  at  last  the  latter  dropped 
entirely  by  the  attendants. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  the  child,  in  his  efforts  to  imitate  the 
language  of  his  surroundings,  fails,  saying  wah-wah,  for  water ;  shoo- 
mum,  for  sugar;  Tcean,  for  clean — the  only  way  to  help  the  child  is 
always  to  speak  the  correct  words  clearly  and  distinctly.  Here  there 
should  be  no  yielding,  inasmuch  as  the  peculiarities  of  the  child's 
speech  are  due  wholly  to  imperfections  of  hearing  or  speaking ;  and, 
so  far  as  the  child's  attendants  are  concerned,  only  persistent  purity 
in  their  model  speech  can  remove  these  imperfections.  Of  course, 
this  does  not  imply  that  the  attendants  should  use  "  big  words  "  or 
complex  forms  of  expression.  On  the  contrary,  the  forms  should 
be  simple  and  closely  adapted  to  the  child's  understanding.  Thus 
the  words,   "Baby — drink"?"  "See— dog,"  "Milk — sweet,"  accom- 


BABY-TALK.  53 

panied  by  some  deliberate,  suitable  gesture  and  a  sympathetic  coun- 
tenance, will  be  solidly  helpful  to  the  child  without  loss  of  endear- 
ment and  mutual  joy.  On  the  other  hanid,  "  Does  mamma's  little 
darling  pet  want  a  drink  *?  Well,  it  shall  have  some.  Mamma  will 
give  it  just  all  it  wants,  and  more,  too,"  are  largely  unmeaning  chat- 
ter to  the  child;  only  now  and  then  he  recognizes  a  word  that 
arouses  in  him  corresponding  thought,  as  the  sea-faring  man  now 
and  then  espies  an  island  in  an  ocean  of  water. 

The  observations  of  E.  S.  Holden  and  M.  W.  Humphreys,  which 
are  corroborated  by  the  experience  of  all  thoughtful  mothers  with 
whom  I  have  conversed  on  the  subject,  indicate  that  children  will 
learn  most  readily  nouns,  and  then  in  their  order  verbs,  adjectives, 
adverbs,  pronouns,  conjunctions,  and  prepositions.  Professor  Hol- 
den found  that  at  the  close  of  the  second  year  two  children  had 
acquired  the  following  vocabulary : 

Nouns.     Verbs.    Adjectives.    Adverbs.    Miscellaneous.    Total. 
First  Child:      285  107  34  39  28  483 

Second  Child:    230  90  37  17  25  399 

He  excluded  from  his  lists  some  500  words  which  the  children  could 
use  only  in  connection  with  nursery-rhymes  they  had  learned,  and 
many  names  of  pictures  concerning  which  the  children's  under- 
standing was  doubtful.  Humphreys  found  that  a  two-year-old  girl 
possessed  a  vocabulary  of  592  nouns,  283  verbs,  114  adjectives,  56 
adverbs,  35  pronouns,  28  prepositions,  5  conjunctions,  and  8  inter- 
jections. He,  too,  excluded  the  words  which  the  child  knew  only 
in  nursery-rhymes,  numerals,  the  names  of  the  week-days,  and  many 
proper  names. 

The  observations  of  these  men,  as  well  as  those  of  many  others, 
seem  to  indicate  that  a  normal  child,  after  the  lapse  of  his  second 
year,  need  no  longer  be  in  the  trammels  of  the  imperfections  of  pro- 
nunciation, of  needless  suffixes,  and  of  affected  reduplications  that 
characterize  ordinary  so-called  "baby-talk." — Tr.] 

Now,  since  this  stage  of  human  development  re- 
quires that  the  child  should  learn  to  designate  all  things 
rightly,  clearly,  and  distinctly,  it  is  essentially  needful 
that  all  things  should  be  brought  before  him  rightly, 
clearly,  and  distinctly,  so  that  he  may  see  and  know 
6 


54:  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

them  rightly,  clearly,  and  distinctly.  These  things  are 
inseparable  and  reciprocally  dependent  (see  §  33). 

However,  inasmuch  as  at  this  stage  language  is  still 
undifferentiated  or  one  with  the  speaking  human  being, 
names  are  for  the  speaking  child  still  one  (united)  with 
the  things — i.  e.,  he  can  not  as  yet  separate  the  name 
and  the  thing,  as  he  can  not  separate  matter  and  spirit, 
soul  and  body.  To  him  they  are  still  one  and  the  same. 
This  is  seen  particularly  in  the  play  of  children  at  this 
time ;  how  eagerly  and  (if  he  can  do  so)  how  much  the 
child  speaks  during  his  play. 

Play  and  speech  constitute  the  element  in  which  the 
child  lives.  Therefore,  the  child  at  this  stage  imparts 
to  each  thing  the  faculties  of  life,  feeling,  and  speech. 
Of  everything  he  imagines  that  it  can  hear.  Because 
the  child  himself  begins  to  represent  his  inner  being 
outwardly,  he  imputes  the  same  activity  to  all  about 
him,  to  the  pebble  and  chip  of  wood,  to  the  plant,  the 
flower,  and  the  animal. 

And  thus  there  is  developed  in  the  child  at  this 
stage  his  own  life,  his  life  with  parents  and  family,  his 
life  with  a  higher  invisible  spirit,  common  to  both,  and 
particularly  his  life  in  and  with  nature,  as  if  this  held 
life  like  that  which  he  feels  within  himself.  Indeed, 
life  in  and  \^ith  nature  and  with  the  fair,  silent  things 
of  nature  should  be  fostered  at  this  time  by  parents  and 
other  members  of  the  family  as  a  chief  fulcrum  of  child- 
life  ;  and  this  is  accomplished  chiefly  in  play,  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  child's  play,  which  at  flrst  is  simply 
natural  life. 

§  30.  Play. — Play  is  the  highest  phase  of  child- 
development— of  human  development  at  this  period; 


PLAYS  OF  CHILDHOOD.  55 

/' 

for  it  is  self -active  representation  of  the  inner — repre- 
sentation of  the  inner  from  inner  necessity  and  im- 
pulse (see  §  27). 
'  ^  Play  is  the  purest,  most  spiritual  activity  of  man  at 
this  stage,  and,  at  the  same  time,  typical  of  human  life 
as  a  whole — of  the  inner  hidden  natural  life  in  man  and 
all  things. -j^It  gives,  therefore,  joy,  freedom,  content- 
ment, inner  and  outer  rest,  peace  with  the  world.  It 
holds  the  sources  of  all  that  is  good.  i<A  child  that 
plays  thoroughly,  with  self -active  determination,  perse- 
veringly  until  physical  fatigue  forbids,  will  surely  be  a 
thorough,  determined  man,  capable  of  self-sacrifice  for 
the  promotion  of  the  welfare  of  himself  and  others^  Is 
not  the  most  beautiful  expression  of  child-life  at  this 
time  a  playing  child  ? — a  child  wholly  absorbed  in  his 
play  ? — a  child  that  has  fallen  asleep  while  so  absorbed  ? 

As  already  indicated,  play  at  this  time  is  not  trivial, 
it  is  highly  serious  and  of  deep  significance.     Cultivate 
and  foster  it,  O  mother ;  protect  and  guard  it,  O  father  I 
To  the  calm,  keen  vision  of  one  who  truly  knows  human ^ 
nature,  the  spontaneous  play  of  the  child  discloses  the    ' 
future  inner  life  of  the  man. 

The  plays  of  childhood  are  the  germinal  leaves  of  1 
all  later  life ;  for  the  whole  man  is  developed  and  shown 
in  these,  in  fhis  tenderest  dispositions,  in  his  innermost 
tendencies.  The  whole  later  life  of  man,  even  to  the 
moment  when  he  shall  leave  it  again,  has  its  source  in 
the  period  of  childhood — be  this  later  life  pure  or  im- 
pure, gentle  or  violent,  quiet  or  impulsive,  industrious 
or  indolent,  rich  or  poor  in  deeds,  passed  in  dull  stupor 
or  in  keen  creativeness,  in  stupid  wonder  or  intelligent 
insight,  producing  or  destroying,  the  bringer  of  bar- 


56  THE  EDUCATIOX  OF   MAN. 

monj  or  discord,  of  war  or  peace.  His  future  relations 
to  father  and  mother,  to  the  members  of  the  family,  to 
society  and  mankind,  to  nature  and  God — in  accordance 
with  the  natural  and  individual  disposition  and  tenden- 
cies of  the  child — depend  chiefly  upon  his  mode  of  life 
at  this  period ;  for  the  child's  life  in  and  with  himself, 
his  family,  nature,  and  God,  is  as  yet  a  unit.  Thus,  at 
this  age,  the  child  can  scarcely  tell  which  is  to  him 
dearer — the  flowers,  or  his  joy  about  them,  or  the  joy 
he  gives  to  the  mother  when  he  brings  or  shows  them 
to  her,  or  the  vague  presentiment  of  the  dear  Giver  of 
them.      ^ 

Who  can  analyze  these  joys  in  which  this  period  is 
so  rich  ? 

If  the  child  is  injured  at  this  period,  if  the  germinal 
leaves  of  the  future  tree  of  his  life  are  marred  at  this 
time,  he  will  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  and  the 
utmost  effort  grow  into  strong  manhood  ;  he  will  only 
with  the  greatest  difficulty  escape  in  his  further  devel- 
opment the  stunting  effects  of  the  injury  or  the  one- 
sidedness  it  entails. 

[Much  has  been  said  concerning  the  value  and  importance  of 
play  by  educators  at  all  times.  Plato  thinks  that  "  the  plays  of 
children  have  the  mightiest  influence  on  the  maintenance  or  non- 
maintenance  of  laws  " ;  that  during  the  first  three  years  the  "  soul  of 
the  nursling"  should  be  made  "cheerful  and  kind"  by  keeping 
away  from  him  "  sorrow  and  fears  and  pain,"  and  by  soothing  him 
with  song,  the  sound  of  the  pipe,  and  rhythmic  movement ;  that  at 
/the  next  period  of  life,  when  the  children  "almost  invent  "their 
games,  they  ought  to  come  together  at  the  temples  and  play  under 
the  supervision  of  nurses,  who  are  to  "  take  cognizance  of  their  be- 
havior." He  foreshadows  Froebel  even  in  the  demand  for  the  regu- 
lation of  play  by  music.  "  From  the  first  years,"  he  says,  "  the  plays 
of  children  ought  to  be  subject  to  laws ;  for,  if  these  plays  and  those 


PLAYS  OF  CHILDHOOD.  57 

who  take  part  in  them  are  arbitrary  and  lawless,  how  can  children 
ever  become  virtuous  men,  abiding  by  and  obedient  to  law  ?  If,  on 
the  contrary,  children  are  trained  to  submit  to  laws  in  their  plays, 
the  love  for  law  enters  their  souls  with  the  music  accompanying  the 
games,  never  leaves  them,  and  helps  in  their  development."  Aris- 
totle, too,  believes  that  children  (until  they  are  five  years  old)  "  should 
be  taught  nothing,  not  even  necessary  labor,  lest  it  hinder  growth  ; 
but  should  be  accustomed  to  use  so  much  motion  as  to  avoid  an  in- 
dolent habit  of  body ;  and  this  can  be  acquired  by  various  means, 
among  others  by  play,  which  ought  to  be  neither  illiberal  nor  too 
laborious  nor  lazy."  Elsewhere  he  insists  on  the  need  of  "  enter- 
taining employment "  for  children,  and  praises  the  "  rattle  of  Archy- 
tas"  as  a  useful  contrivance,  "keeping  children  from  breaking 
things  about  the  house."  Even  Quintilian,  while  he  covets  instruc- 
tion at  an  early  period,  and,  inasmuch  as  "they  must  do  some- 
thing," would  have  them  learn  to  read  "after  they  are  able  to 
speak,"  yet  would  labor  to  render  the  instruction  "  an  amusement  to 
the  child,"  and  does  not  object  to  the  use  of  "  ivory  figures  of  letters 
to  play  with."  He  looks  upon  playing  as  "  in  itself  a  mark  of  ac- 
tivity of  mind,"  and  thinks  that  "  children  who  play  in  a  slow  and 
spiritless  manner  will  not  show  any  remarkable  aptitude  for  any 
branch  of  science." 

Luther  severely  censures  those  who  "  despise  the  plays  of  chil- 
dren," and  informs  us  that  "  Solomon,  who  was  a  judicious  school- 
master, did  not  prohibit  scholars  from  play  at  the  proper  time,  as 
the  monks  do  their  pupils,  who  thus  become  mere  logs  and  sticks." 
..."  A  young  man  shut  up  in  this  way,  and  kept  apart  from  men," 
he  says,  "  is  like  a  young  tree  which  ought  to  bear  fruit,  but  is  planted 
in  a  pot."  Rabelais  has  his  Pantagruel  redeemed  from  the  stultify- 
ing effects  of  over-training  by  placing  him  in  the  hands  of  a  wise 
tutor,  who  knew  how  to  make  his  studies  amusing,  interesting,  and 
profitable,  by  making  them  "  active  "  and  connecting  them  with  life. 
Fenelon  believes  in  the  efficacy  of  play.  Locke  thinks  that  "  all  their 
innocent  folly,  playing,  and  child-like  actions  are  to  be  left  perfectly 
free  and  unrestrained  " ;  that  "  to  restrain  the  natural  gayety  of  that 
age  serves  only  to  spoil  the  temper  both  of  body  and  mind  " ;  that 
"  this  gamesome  humor  which  is  wisely  adapted  by  Nature  to  their 
age  and  temper  should  be  encouraged  to  keep  up  their  spirits  and 
improve  their  health  and  strength  "  ;  and  that  "  the  chief  art  is  to 
make  all  that  they  have  to  do  sport  and  play."    Further  on  he  finds 


58  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

that  "  free  liberty  permitted  them  in  their  recreation  will  discover 
their  natural  tempers,  show  their  inclinations  and  aptitudes." 

In  his  "  Letters  on  Esthetic  Education,"  Schiller  says :  "  The 
plays  of  children  often  have  very  deep  meaning,  for,  to  speak  plainly 
and  concisely,  man  plays  only  where  he  is  a  human  being  in  the 
fullest  sense  of  the  word,  and  he  has  reached  full  humanity  only 
where  he  plays.  This  proposition,  which  at  present  may  appear 
paradoxical,  will  acquire  great  and  deep  significance  when  we  shall 
learn  to  refer  it  to  the  doubly  serious  ideas  of  duty  and  destiny ;  it 
will  then,  I  am  sure,  sustain  the  entire  superstructure  of  aesthetic  art 
and  of  the  yet  more  difficult  art  of  life."  With  still  keener  insight 
into  child-nature,  Richter  says  in  his  incomparable  '"  Levana  " :  "  Ac- 
tivity alone  can  bring  and  hold  serenity  and  happiness.  Unlike  our 
games,  the  plays  of  children  are  the  expressions  of  serious  activity, 
although  in  light,  airy  dress.  .  .  .  Play  is  the  first  poetical  (creative) 
utterance  of  man." 

To  Froebel,  however,  belongs  the  credit  of  having  found  the 
true  nature  and  function  of  play,  and  of  regulating  it  in  such  a  way 
as  to  lead  it  gradually  and  naturally  into  work,  securing  for  work 
the  same  spontaneity  and  joy,  the  same  freedom  and  serenity,  that 
characterize  the  plays  of  childhood,  realizing  in  all  directions  of  hu- 
man activity  what  Prof.  Pillans  (quoted  by  Herbert  Spencer)  asserts 
concerning  school-work,  that  "  where  young  people  are  taught  as 
they  ought  to  be,  they  are  quite  as  happy  in  school  as  at  play,  seldom 
less  delighted,  nay,  often  more,  with  the  well-directed  exercise  of 
their  mental  energies  than  with  that  of  their  muscular  powers."  In 
his  gifts  and  occupations  he  found  for  the  two  contrasts  of  play  and 
work  the  living  connection,  making  them  both  utterances  of  the 
same  one  creative  activity.  In  play,  it  is  the  exercise  of  this  activity 
that  forms  the  purpose  of  the  exertion  and  rewards  it  with  joy  un- 
speakable ;  in  work,  the  external  product,  the  outcome  of  the  activity, 
becomes  the  purpose  and  additional  reward  of  the  exertion.  Froe- 
bel has  shown  how  both  may  be  combined,  how  the  human  being — 
the  child,  the  boy  or  girl,  the  youth  or  maiden,  man  or  woman — may 
learn  to  secure  both  enjoyments  through  the  same  effort,  delighting 
in  the  activity  which  leads  to  a  coveted  result,  however  distant  and 
difficult  of  attainment. 

Preyer,  in  his  work  on  "  The  Soul  of  the  Child,"  after  speaking 
of  the  pleasurable  sensations  aroused  in  his  boy  on  being  carried  out 
into  the  open  air,  etc.,  says :  "  A  new  kind  of  pleasurable  sensations, 


PLAYS   OF  INFANCY.  69 

with  some  admixture  of  intellectual  elements,  is  noticed  when  the 
child  begins  to  effect  some  change  of  form  by  his  own  activity, 
gradually  gaining  some  knowledge  of  his  own  power.  Not  only  the 
effects  of  the  voice,  especially  crying  and  the  first  consciously  made 
sounds,  are  concerned  in  this,  but  a  number  of  '  plays.'  At  first  it 
was,  in  the  fifth  month,  the  crumpling  of  a  sheet  of  paper,  which 
the  boy  repeated  with  evident  pleasure.  From  this  time  on  to 
his  third  year  he  found  great  pleasure  in  the  tearing  and  rolling 
up  of  newspapers.  With  similar  pleasure  he  engaged  in  puiling 
a  glove  from  side  to  side  (until  his  fourth  year),  in  pulling  the  hairs 
of  my  beard,  in  ringing  a  small  bell  for  an  insufferably  long  time. 
Later  he  found  enjoyment  in  the  movement  of  his  own  body,  in 
marching  and  in  purely  intellectual  plays,  packing  and  unpacking 
of  things,  cutting  with  scissors,  turning  the  leaves  of  a  book,  looking 
at  pictures.  At  last  there  came  imagination,  which  animates  clumsy 
pieces  of  wood,  changes  the  leaves  of  trees  into  delicious  articles  of 
food,  etc. 

"  On  the  whole,  however,  during  the  first  period  of  their  life, 
children  owe  many  more  pleasurable  feelings  to  the  removal  of  con- 
ditions of  discomfort  than  to  the  creation  of  conditions  of  positive 
pleasure.  The  removal  of  hunger,  thirst,  wet,  cold,  tight  clothing, 
gives  rise  to  pleasurable  sensations  that  are  stronger  than  those 
generated  by  soft  light,  moving  tassels,  tepid  baths,  singing,  and  the 
kindliness  of  parents,  or  as  strong  as  these.  Not  before  the  fourth 
month  new  pleasurable  sensations  are  added  by  the  first  successful 
attempts  to  take  hold." 

He  is  inclined  to  look  upon  the  cries,  the  laughter,  and  the 
various  movements  attending  these  pleasurable  sensations  as  in- 
stinctive or  reflex  in  their  character  for  quite  a  long  time.  Even 
the  stamping  with  the  foot  in  the  eleventh  month,  the  stiffening 
of  the  body  as  a  measure  of  resistance  in  the  tenth  month,  he  does 
not  consider  intentional.  About  this  time,  however,  a  number  of 
plays  and  experiments  seem  to  indicate  the  awakening  of  will. 
"  Thus,  in  the  eleventh  month,"  he  writes,  "  my  child  would  fre- 
quently beat  with  a  spoon  against  a  paper  or  some  other  object  held 
in  the  other  hand,  then  suddenly  exchange  the  two  objects,  and 
move  the  spoon  with  the  other  hand,  as  if  he  desired  to  determine 
whence  the  noise  proceeded." 

At  a  still  later  period,  between  the  fifteenth  and  twentieth 
months,  the  pleasure  of  the  child's  plays  seems  to  be  due  to  the  "  re- 


60  THE  EDUCATION   OF   MAK 

production  of  familiar  thought-images  attended  with  pleasurable 
feelings  which  have  been  crystallized  out,  as  it  were,  mto  relative 
clearness  from  the  great  mass  of  vague  perceptions.  Most  of  the 
plays  which  the  children  invent  themselves  may  be  reduced  to  this, 
even  the  game  of  hide-and-seek  (in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
months),  and,  related  to  this,  the  game  of  '  hunting  for '  scraps  of 
paper,  pieces  of  biscuits,  buttons,  and  other  favorite  things  (in  the 
fifteenth  month)." 

Much  that  goes  by  the  name  of  play,  Preyer  considers  as  true 
experimenting,  more  particularly  with  reference  to  the  study  of 
changes  produced  by  the  child's  own  activity.  In  this  connection 
he  mentions  the  tearing  of  paper  into  small  bits,  continued  with  re- 
markable patience  even  between  the  forty-fifth  and  fifty-fifth  weeks. 
For  this  he  finds  the  explanation  in  the  '•  gratification  on  the  part 
of  the  child  to  find  himself  the  cause  of  so  remarkable  a  change." 
The  same  he  holds  to  be  true  with  reference  to  "the  shaking  of 
a  bunch  of  keys ;  the  opening  and  closing  of  a  box  or  purse  (thir- 
teenth month) ;  the  pulling  out,  emptying,  refilling,  and  replacing 
of  a  table-drawer ;  the  piling  up  and  scattering  of  gravel ;  turning 
the  leaves  of  a  book  (thirteenth  to  nineteenth  month) ;  burrowing 
and  working  in  sand;  the  arranging  of  shells,  pebbles,  buttons 
(twenty-first  month) ;  the  filling  and  emptying  of  bottles,  cups, 
watering-pots  (thirty-first  to  thirty-third  month) ;  the  throwing  of 
stones  into  the  water.  The  zeal  with  which  these  seemingly  aimless 
movements  are  executed  is  remarkable.  The  sense  of  gratification 
must  be  very  great,  and  is  probably  due  to  the  feeling  of  his  own 
power,  and  of  being  the  cause  of  the  various  changes." — Tr.] 

§  31.  In  these  years  of  childhood  the  child's  food  is 
a  matter  of  very  great  importance,  not  only  at  the  time 
— for  the  child  may  by  its  food  be  made  indolent  or 
active,  sluggish  or  mobile,  dull  or  bright,  inert  or  vigor- 
ous— but,  indeed,  for  his  entire  future  life.  For  im- 
pressions, inclinations,  appetites  which  the  child  may 
have  derived  from  his  food,  the  turn  it  may  have  given 
to  his  senses,  and  even  to  his  life,  as  a  whole,  can  only 
with  difficulty  be  set  aside  even  when  the  age  of  self- 
dependence  has  been  reached.     They  are  one  with  his 


FOOD   OF  CHILDHOOD.  61 

whole  physical  life,  and  therefore  intimately  connected 
with  his  spiritual  life ;  at  any  rate,  with  his  sensations 
and  feelings. 

Tlierefore,  after  the  mother's  milk,  the  first  food  of 
the  child  should  be  plain  and  simple,  not  more  artificial 
and  refined  than  is  absolutely  needful,  in  no  way  stiju- 
ulating  and  exciting  through  an  excess  of  spices,  nor 
rich,  lest  it  hinder  the  inner  organs  in  their  activity. 

Parents  and  nurses  should  ever  remember,  as  under- 
lying every  precept  in  this  direction,  the  following 
general  principle  :  that  simplicity  and  frugality  in  food 
and  in  other  physical  needs  during  the  years  of  child- 
hood enhance  man's  power  of  attaining  happiness  and 
vigor — true  creativeness  in  every  respect. 

Who  has  not  noticed  in  children,  over-stimulated  by 
spices  and  excess  in  food,  appetites  of  a  very  low  order, 
from  which  they  can  never  again  be  freed — appetites 
which,  even  when  they  seem  to  have  been  suppressed, 
only  slumber,  and  in  times  of  opportunity  return  with 
greater  power,  threatening  to  rob  man  of  all  his  dignit}^, 
and  to  force  him  away  from  his  duty  ? 

If  parents  would  consider  that  not  only  much  indi- 
vidual and  personal  happiness,  but  even  much  domestic 
happiness  and  general  prosperity,  depend  on  this,  how 
very  differently  they  would  act ! 

But  here  the  foolish  mother,  there  the  childish  fa- 
ther, is  to  blame.  We  see  them  give  their  children 
all  kinds  of  poison,  and  in  every  form,  coarse  and  fine. 
Here  it  comes  in  the  oppressing  quantity  which  does 
not  allow  the  body  to  digest  it,  which  is  often  given 
only  to  drive  away  the  enmd  that  torments  the  unoc- 
cupied child ;   again,  it  comes   in  over-refinement  in 


62  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

the  preparation  of  food,  bj  which  the  physical  side 
of  the  child's  L'fe  is  stimulated  without  tnie  spiritual 
cause,  consuming  and  weakening  the  body.  Here  indo- 
lence and  sluggishness  are  considered  as  needful  rest ; 
there  the  child's  physical  mobility,  a  symptom  of  over- 
stimulation, and  independent  of  true  spiritual  causes,  is 
greeted  as  trae  increase  and  development  of  life. 

It  is  by  far  easier  than  we  think  to  promote  and 
establish  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  mankind.  All 
the  means  are  simple  and  at  hand ;  yet  we  see  them  not. 
We  see  them,  perhaps,  but  do  not  notice  them.  In 
their  simplicity,  naturalness,  availability,  and  nearness, 
they  seem  too  insignificant,  and  we  despise  them.  We 
seek  help  from  afar,  although  help  is  only  in  and  through 
ourselves.  Hence,  at  a  later  period,  half  or  all  our  ac- 
cumulated wealth  can  not  procure  for  our  children  what 
greater  insight  and  a  clearer  vision  discern  as  their 
greatest  good.  This  they  now  must  miss,  or  can  enjoy 
but  partially  and  scantily.  It  might  have  been  theirs 
without  effort,  as  it  were,  had  we  in  their  childhood 
attended  to  it  but  a  little  more ;  indeed,  it  would  have 
been  theirs  in  full  measure  had  we  expended  very  much 
less  for  their  physical  comfort. 

Would  that  to  each  young,  newly  married  couple 
there  could  be  shown,  in  all  its  vividness,  only  one  of 
the  sad  experiences  and  observations  in  its  small  and 
seemingly  insignificant  beginnings,  and  in  its  incalcu- 
lable consequences,  that  tend  utterly  to  destroy  all  the 
good  of  later  education ! — only  one  of  these  sad  experi- 
ences, of  which  the  educator  is  compelled  to  make  hun- 
dreds, and  whose  knowledge  can  help  him  but  little  to 
counteract  the  injurious  consequences  of  the  respective 


CLOTHING  OP  CHILDHOOD.  63 

faults  in  the  later  life  of  those  in  whom  he  observes 
them ;  for  who  does  not  know  the  mighty  influence  of 
early  impressions  ? 

And  here  it  is  easy  to  avoid  the  wrong  and  to  find 
the  right.  Always  let  the  food  be  simply  for  nourish- 
ment— never  more,  never  less.  Never  should  food  be 
taken  for  its  own  sake,  but  only  for  the  sake  of  promot- 
ing bodily  and  mental  activity.  Still  less  should  the 
peculiarities  of  the  food,  its  taste  or  delicacy,  ever  be- 
come an  object  in  themselves,  but  only  a  means  to  make 
it  good,  pure,  wholesome  nourishment ;  else,  in  both 
cases,  the  food  destroys  health. 

Let  the  food  of  the  child,  then,  be  as  simple  as  the 
circumstances  in  which  the  child  lives  can  aiford ;  and 
let  it  be  given  in  quantities  proportioned  to  his  bodily 
and  mental  activity. 

§  32.  In  order  to  enable  the  child  at  this  period  to 
move  and  play,  to  develop  and  grow  freely,  and  without 
hindrance,  his  clothing  should  be  free  from  lacing  and 
pressure  of  all  kinds ;  for  such  clothing  would  oppress 
and  fetter  also  the  spirit  of  the  child.  The  clothing  of 
the  child,  in  this  as  well  as  in  the  next  period,  should 
not  bind  the  body ;  *  for  it  will  have  on  the  mind,  on 
the  soul,  of  the  child,  the  same  effect  it  has  on  the  body. 
Clothes,  in  form  and  color  and  cut,  should  never  become 
an  object  in  themselves,  else  they  will  soon  direct  the 
child's  attention  to  his  appearance  instead  of  his  real 
being,  make  him  vain  and  frivolous — dollish — a  puppet 
instead  of  a  human  being.  Clothing,  therefore,  is  by  no 
means  an  unimportant  concern,  either  for  the  child  or 

*  By  tipfht  lacing,  close-fitting  seams,  and  multiplicity  of  articles  of 
clothing.— Tr. 


64  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

the  adult  man,  as  it  is  desirable  for  him,  even  as  a  Chris- 
tian, to  be  able  to  say,  "  Without  piece  and  without 
seam,  only  a  continuous  whole,  like  the  garment  of 
Jesus,  was  also  his  life  and  work,  and  his  doctrine." 

§  33.  The  aim  and  object  of  the  parental  care  of  the 
child,  in  the  domestic  and  family  circle,  then,  is  to 
awaken  and  develop,  to  quicken  all  the  powers  and 
natural  gifts  of  the  child,  to  enable  all  the  members  and 
organs  of  man  to  fullill  the  requirements  of  the  child's 
powers  and  gifts. 

[Herbert  Spencer,  who,  although  ignorant  of  Froebel's  work, 
has  so  many  points  of  contact  with  him,  finds  the  proper  function 
of  education  in  "  preparation  for  complete  living,"  which  is  the  free 
exercise  of  all  our  faculties.  There  seems  to  be  little  fundamental 
difference,  too,  between  the  physiological,  psychological,  sociological, 
and  ethical  limitations  of  complete  living  on  the  part  of  Spencer, 
and  the  life-unity  with  self,  mankind,  nature,  the  universe,  and  God 
demanded  by  Froebel.    (Compare  §  19.)—  Tr.] 

The  natural  mother  does  all  this  instinctively,  with- 
out instruction  and  direction  ;  but  this  is  not  enough : 
it  is  needful  that  she  should  do  it  consciously,  as  a  con- 
scious being  acting  upon  another  being  which  is  growing 
into  consciousness  (see  §  56),  and  consciously  tending 
toward  the  continuous  development  of  the  human  being, 
in  a  certain  inner  living  connection  (see  §  2). 

[That  instinct  alone  is  not  sufficient  to  enable  the  mother  to  guide 
the  child  aright  is  amply  shown  by  the  many  cruel  practices  to 
which  children  are  subjected  among  barbarous  tribes,  and  by  the 
survival  of  many  senseless  and  even  pernicious  customs  in  the  imr- 
series  of  even  the  most  cultured  communities  of  our  day.  Consci- 
entious mothers  everywhere  point  with  expressions  of  deepest  regret 
to  the  many  oversights  and  neglects  of  which  they  were  unwittingly 
guilty,  the  many  misunderstandings  and  misapplications  that  blurred 
their  efficiency,  the  many  blunders  whose  pernicious  effects  years  of 


EARLIEST   LESSONS.  65 

subsequent  toil  could  not  efface.  Insight  will  add  a  conscious  pur- 
pose to  the  instinct ;  it  will  arouse  the  sense  of  duty  in  the  soul,  it 
will  enable  the  head  to  help  the  heart,  add  wisdom  to  love,  avoid 
waste,  and  insure  success. — Tr.] 

Bj  sketching  her  work,  therefore,  I  hope  to  show  it 
to  her  in  its  nature,  significance,  and  connection.  It  is 
true,  the  plainest  thoughtful  mother  could  do  this  more 
fully,  more  perfectly,  and  more  deeply;  but  through 
imperfection  man  rises  to  perfection.  1  trust,  therefore, 
that  this  sketch  may  awaken  faithful  and  calm,  thought- 
ful and  rational  parental  love,  and  show  us  the  course 
of  development  in  childhood  in  unbroken  succession. 

''  Give  me  your  arm."  "  Where  is  your  hand  ?  " 
In  such  words  the  mother  strives  to  teach  the  child  to 
feel  the  complexity  of  his  body  and  the  diiference  be- 
tween his  limbs. 

"  Bite  your  finger."  This  is  an  especially  well-con- 
ceived action,  which  a  deep  natural  feeling  has  suggested 
to  the  thoughtful  mother  playing  with  her  child.  It 
induces  reflection  in  its  earliest  phases,  by  tending  to 
bring  to  the  child's  knowledge  an  object  which,  although 
it  has  an  individuality  of  its  own,  is  yet  united  with  the 
child. 

Not  less  important  is  the  mother's  pleasantly  playful 
manner  of  leading  the  child  to  a  knowledge  of  the  mem- 
bers which  he  can  not  see,  the  nose,  the  ears,  the  tongue, 
and  teeth.  The  mother  gently  pulls  the  nose  or  ear,  as 
if  she  meant  to  separate  them  from  head  or  face,  and, 
showing  to  the  child  the  half -concealed  end  of  her  finger 
or  thumb,  says,  "  Here  I  have  the  ear,  the  nose,"  and 
the  child  quickly  puts  his  hand  to  his  ear  or  nose,  and 
smiles  with  intense  joy  to  find  them  in  their  right  places. 


QQ  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

In  this  action  the  mother  first  arouses  and  directs  in  the 
child  a  desire  to  know  even  what  he  can  not  see  exter- 
nally. 

All  this  tends  to  lead  the  child  to  self-conscionsness, 
to  reflection  about  himself  in  the  approaching  period  of 
boyhood.  Thus,  a  boy  ten  years  old,  similarly  guided 
by  instinct,  believing  himself  unobserved,  soliloquized  : 
"  I  am  not  my  arm,  nor  my  ear ;  all  my  limbs  and  organs 
I  can  separate  from  myself,  and  I  still  remain  myself ;  I 
wonder  what  I  am  ;  who  and  what  this  is  which  I  call 
myself?" 

In  the  same  spirit,  maternal  love  continues  with  the 
child,  in  order  to  lead  him  to  use  these  things.  "  Show 
me  your  tongue."  "  Show  me  your  tooth."  "  Bite  it 
with  your  tooth?'  "  Slip  the  foot  into  the  stocking — 
into  the  shoe."  "  There  is  the  foot  in  the  stocking — in 
the  shoe." 

'  Thus  maternal  in&tinct  and  love  gradually  introduce 
.the  child  to  his  little  outside  world,  proceeding  from  the 
whole  to  the  part,  from  the  near  to  the  remote. 

Similarly,  as  she  at  first  sought  to  bring  to  the  child's 
notice  objects  as  such,  and  in  their  relative  positions,  she 
soon  directs  attention  to  their  attributes  and  qualities. 
In  this,  of  course,  she  first  shows  tbem  in  their  actions, 
and  only  later  in  their  passive  conditions. 

She  says,  "  The  candle  burns,"  as  she  cautiously 
holds  the  child's  finger  toward  the  flame,  enabling  him 
to  feel  the  heat  without  being  really  burned,  and  guard- 
ing him  against  an  unknown  danger.  Or,  she  says, 
"  The  knife  pricks,"  as  she  carefully  and  gently  presses 
the  point  of  the  knife  against  the  child's  finger.  Or, 
"  The  soup  burns  your  mouth." 


MAN   IN   EARLIEST   CHILDHOOD.  (57 

At  a  later  period,  as  if  she  would  direct  tlie  child  to 
the  permanence  of  the  active  quality,  or  to  its  cause,  the 
mother  says,  "  The  sonp  is  hot^  it  hums  you."  "  The 
knife  is  sharp,  it  pricks,  it-Quts ;  let  it  alone."  From  a 
knowledge  of  the  effect,  the  mother  leads  to  the  imma- 
nent lasting  cause,  sharp  j  and,  later,  from  a  knowledge 
of  the  immanent  quality  to  a  knowledge  of  the  effect, 
pricking,  cutting,  as  such,  without  the  direct  personal 
experience  of  these  effects. 

Further  on,  the  mother  leads  the  child  iirst  to  feel 
his  own  action,  and  then  to  contemplate  the  action  it- 
self. Thus,  the  mother  delightfully  teaching  him  in 
all  she  does  and  says,  requests  the  child  who  is  to  take 
food,  "  Open  your  mouth " ;  or,  when  he  is  to  be 
washed,  "Close  your^eyes";  or  she  teaches  the  child 
to  find  the  object  of  his  action.  Thus,  when  she  lays 
the  child  in  his  little  bed,  she  says,  "  Go  to  sleep  "  ;  or, 
as  she  lifts  a  spoonful  of  food  to  his  lips,  "Eat,  my 
pet."  And,  in  order  to  direct  his  attention  to  the  effect 
of  the  food  upon  the  nerves  of  taste  and  upon  the  re- 
lation between  the  food  and  the  body,  she  says,  "  How 
good  that  tastes !  "  In  order  to  direct  his  attention  to 
the  smell  of  flowers,  the  mother  imitates  the  noise  of 
snuffing,  and  says,  "How  good  that  smells!  Would 
you  like  to  smell  it  ?  "  Or,  on  the  other  hand,  she  turns 
with  the  expression  of  displeasure  her  face  away  from 
the  flower,  which  she  removes  from  the  child. 

Thus,  the  plainest  mother,  who  with  her  beloved 
child  withdraws  almost  bashfully  into  privacy — lest  un- 
consecrated  eyes  profane  the  sanctuary  —  seeks  in  the 
most  natural  manner  to  arouse  to  full  activity  all  his 
limbs  and  senses. 


68  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

Unfortunately,  onr  conceit  induces  us  to  lose  sight 
of  this  natural  and  divine  starting-point  of  all  human 
development;  we  stand  perplexed,  having  lost  begin- 
ning and  end,  and  therefore  the  right  direction.  Hav- 
ing denied  God  and  nature,  we  seek  counsel  from  hu- 
man knowledge  and  wit.  We  build  houses  of  cards ; 
but  there  is  no  room  in  them  for  the  ways  of  the  nat- 
ural mother,  for  divine  influence ;  and  the  slightest  ut- 
terance of  the  child,  impelled  by  the  joy  and  instinct  of 
life,  throws  them  down.  If  they  should  stand,  the 
child  must  be,  if  not  bodily,  yet  intellectually  fettered. 

Where  has  this  discussion  taken  us  ?  Into  the  nur- 
sery of  the  worldly-wise,  of  the  so-called  refined  people, 
who  scarcely  believe  that  there  are  in  the  child  germs 
which,  if  they  are  to  thrive,  must  be  developed  early ; 
who  know  still  less  that  all  the  child  is  ever  to  be  and 
become,  lies — however  shghtly  indicated — in  the  child, 
and  can  be  attained  only  through  development  from 
within  outward. 

How  dead,  therefore,  does  everything  seem  here; 
how  cold,  or,  at  best,  how  loud  and  noisy !  But,  is  not 
the  mother  here  ?  Alas  !  it  is  not  the  mother's  room, 
it  is  only  the  nursery. 

Away!  and  let  us  again  go  where  not  only  the 
room  of  child  and  mother  is  one,  but  where  even 
mother  and  child  are  still  one;  where  the  mother  is 
loath  to  give  the  care  of  her  child  to  strangers.  Let  us 
see  and  hear  how  the  mother,  there,  shows  to  the  child 
objects  in  their  motions  :  "  Hark  !  the  bird  sings  !  The 
dog  says,  '  bow-wow ! '  "  And  then,  directly  from  the 
word  to  the  name,  from  hearing  to  sight,  "  Where  is 
Peep-peep  ?     Where  is  Bow-wow  ? "     The  mother  even 


MAN  IN  EARLIEST   CHILDHOOD.  69 

ventures  to  lead  from  the  contemplation  of  the  thing 
and  its  quaUty  in  their  connection  to  the  contemplation 
of  the  quality  as  distinct  from  the  thing.  "  The  bird 
flies,"  she  says  at  first  about  tlie  actual  bird  that  flies. 
''  See  the  little  bird,"  she  says  later,  on  beholding  the 
flitting,  unsteady  light-reflection  that  comes  from  the 
moving  surface  of  water  or  of  a  mirror.  Then,  in 
order  to  teach  the  child  that  this  is  an  incorporeal  phe- 
nomenon which  shares  with  the  bird  only  its  mobility, 
she  says,  "  Catch  the  little  bird,"  and  asks  the  child  to 
cover  the  reflection  with  his  hands. 

Again,  in  order  to  lead  the  child  to  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  motion  alone,  the  mother  says,  when  she  be- 
holds the  pendulum  oscillations  of  some  object,  "  swing- 
swong,"  or  "  To-fro." 

Similarly,  she  seeks  to  attract  the  child's  attention 
to  the  mutability  of  things — e.  g.,  showing  the  lighted 
candle,  "  Here  is  the  light "  ;  taking  it  away,  "  All  gone, 
light";  or,  "Papa  comes,"  and,  "Ey-by,  papa." 
Again,  showing  the  self -mobility  of  things,  "Come, 
kitty,  to  my  pet,"  and,  "  Run,  kitty,  run."  She  incites 
the  child  to  bodily  activity — "  Hold  the  flower,"  "  Catch 
the  kitty,"  or,  slowly  rolling  the  ball,  "Catch  the 
ball." 

All-embracing  mother-love  seeks  to  awaken  and  to 
interpret  the  feeling  of  community  between  the  child 
and  the  father,  brother,  and  sister,  which  is  so  impor- 
tant, when  she  says,  "  Love  dear  papa  "  ;  or  as  she  caress- 
ingly passes  the  child's  hand  over  the  father's  cheek, 
"  Dear,  dear  papa  "  ;  or,  "  Love  little  sister,"  etc. 

In  addition  to  the  sense  of  community  as  such,  the 
germ  of  so  much  glorious  development,  the  mother's  love 


70  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

seeks  also  through  movements  to  lead  the  child  to  feel 
his  own  inner  life.  By  regular,  rhythmic  movements — 
and  this  is  of  special  importance — she  brings  this  life 
within  the  child's  conscious  control  when  she  dandles 
him  up  and  down  on  her  hand  or  arm  in  rhythmic 
movements  and  to  rhythmic  sounds. 

Thus  the  genuine,  natural  mother  cautiously  follows 
in  all  directions  the  slowly  developing,  all-sided  life  in 
the  child.  She  strengthens  it,  and  thus  arouses  to  ever- 
greater  activity  the  still  more  all-sided  life  within,  and 
develops  this. 

Others  suppose  the  child  to  be  empty,  wish  to  inocu- 
late him  w^ith  life,  make  him  as  empty  as  they  think 
him  to  be,  and  deprive  him  of  life,  as  it  were.  Thus, 
too,  there  are  lost  again  in  word  and  tone  those  means 
of  cultivation  that  lead  so  simply  and  naturally  to  the 
development  of  rhythm  and  obedience  to  law  in  all 
human  life-utterances,  for  their  significance  is  recog- 
nized by  few  pei*sons,  and  by  still  fewer  persons  con- 
sidered and  further  unfolded  in  connection  with  the 
further  development  of  life  in  the  hirnian  being. 

I^J'evertheless,  an  early,  pure  development  of  rhyth- 
mic movement  would  prove  most  wholesome  in  the 
succeeding  life-periods  of  the  human  being.  We  rob 
ourselves  as  educators,  and  we  still  more  rob  the  child 
as  pupil  by  discontinuing  so  soon  the  development  of 
rhythmic  movements  in  early  education.  It  would  be 
easier  for  him  to  compass  the  legitimate,  proper  measure 
of  his  life.  Much  willfulness,  impropriety,  and  coarse- 
ness would  be  taken  out  of  his  life,  his  movements,  and 
actions.  He  would  secure  more  firmness  and  modera- 
tion, more  harmony ;  and,  later  on,  there  would  be  de- 


MAN  IN  EARLIEST   CHILDHOOD.  71 

veloped  in  him  a  higher  appreciation  of  nature  and  art, 
of  music  and  poetry  (see  §  80). 

Even  very  small  children,  in  moments  of  quiet,  and 
'particularly  when  going  to  sleep,  will  hum  little  strains 
of  songs  they  have  heard  ;  this,  too,  has  not  escaped 
the  attention  of  the  observant,  thoughtful  mother,  and 
should  be  heeded  and  developed  even  more  in  the  edu- 
cation of  little  children  as  the  iirst  germ  of  future 
growth  in  melody  and  song.  Undoubtedly  this  would 
soon  lead  in  children  to  a  self-activity  similar  to  that 
attained  in  speech,  and  children  whose  faculty  of  speech 
has  been  thus  developed  and  trained,  find,  seemingly 
without  effort,  the  words  for  new  ideas,  peculiar  associa- 
tions and  relations  among  newly  discovered  qualities. 

Thus,  a  very  little  girl,  brought  up  in  child-like 
purity  by  maternal  though tfulness,  after  long  and 
thoughtful  examination  of  the  soft  and  downy  leaves  of 
a  plant,  exclaimed  joyfully,  "  Oh,  how  woolly  !  "  The 
mother  could  not  recollect  that  she  had  ever  directed 
the  child's  attention  to  such  a  quality. 

Similarly,  the  same  child,  on  beholding  the  two  most 
brilliant  planets  quite  near  each  other  in  the  clear, 
starry  sky,  exclaimed  joyfully,  "  Father  and  mother 
stars!"  Yet  the  mother  had  not  the  least  idea  how 
this  association  with  the  stars  had  been  called  up  in  the 
child's  mind. 

§  34.  In  teaching  the  child  to  stand  and  walk,  we 
should  use  neither  perambulators  nor  leading-strings. 
He  should  stand  when  he  is  strong  enough  to  keep  his 
balance  freely  and  independently ;  and  he  should  walk 
when,  freely  moving  forward,  he  can  independently 
keep  his  balance.     He  should  not  stand  before  he  can 


72^  THE  EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

sit  erect,  draw  himself  up  by  some  tall  object  near  by, 
and  thus  keep  his  balance  without  support.  He  should 
not  walk  before  he  can  creep,  rise  freely,  maintain  his 
balance,  and  proceed  by  his  own  effort.  At  first,  when 
at  some  distance  from  his  mother,  he  has  raised  himself 
by  his  own  effort,  the  return  to  the  mother's  lap  \vill 
invite  him  to  go  forward.  Soon,  however,  the  child 
feels  strength  in  his  own  feet,  rejoices  intensely  over  it, 
and,  for  his  own  pleasure,  repeats  the  new  art  for  its 
own  sake,  as  formerly  he  repeated  the  art  of  standing. 
In  a  short  time  he  begins  the  practice  of  the  art  with- 
out strain  or  effort ;  he  is  attracted  by  the  bright,  round, 
smooth  pebble,  by  the  gayly-colored,  fluttering  bit  of 
paper,  by  the  smooth,  symmetrical,  three-  or  four-cor- 
nered piece  of  board,  by  the  rectangular  blocks  of 
wood  for  building,  by  the  brilliant,  quaint  leaf,  and  he 
tries  to  get  hold  of  these  with  the  help  of  the  newly 
acquired  use  of  his  hmbs,  to  bring  like  things  together, 
and  to  separate  things  that  are  unlike.  Look  at  the 
child  that  can  scarcely  keep  himself  erect,  and  that  can 
walk  only  with  greatest  care — he  sees  a  twig,  a  bit  of 
straw ;  painfully  he  secures  it,  and,  like  the  young  bird 
in  spring,  carries  it  to  his  nest,  as  it  were. 

Behold,  again,  the  child  laboriously  stooping  and 
slowly  going  forward  on  the  ground,  under  the  eaves  of 
the  roof.  The  force  of  the  rain  has  washed  out  of  the 
sand  small,  smooth,  bright  pebbles,  and  the  ever-observ- 
ing child  gathers  them  as  building-stones,  as  it  were,  as 
material  for  future  building.  And  is  he  wrong  ?  Does 
not  the  child,  in  truth,  collect  material  for  his  future 
life-building?  Like  things  must  here  be  ranged  to- 
gether, things  unlike  must  be  separated.      J^ot  crude 


MAN  m  EARLIEST   CHILDHOOD.  ^3 

things,  but  things  wrouglit  out  of  their  crudeness,  are 
to  be  joined  together. 

§  35.  If  the  building  is  to  be  sound,  all  the  material 
must  be  known  not  only  bj  its  name,  but  also  by  its 
qualities  and  uses ;  and,  that  the  child  desires  this,  is 
shown  in  his  child-like,  quiet,  busy  activity.  We  call 
it  childish  because  we  do  not  understand  it,  because  we 
have  not  eyes  to  see,  nor  ears  to  hear,  and,  still  less, 
feeling  to  feel  with  the  child ;  we  are  dull,  therefore 
the  child's  life  seems  dull  to  us.  We  do  not  know  its 
meaning;  how,  then,  can  we  interpret  it  for  the  child? 
And  yet  it  is  the  longing  for  this  interpretation  that 
urges  the  child  to  appeal  to  us.  IIow  can  we  impart 
a  language  to  the  things  of  child-life  when  they  are 
dumb  in  us?  And  yet  it  is  the  intense  desire  for  this 
that  urges  the  child  to  bring  his  treasures  to  us  and  to 
lay  them  in  our  laps.  The  child  loves  all  things  that 
enter  his  small  horizon  and  extend  his  little  world.  To 
him  the  least  thing  is  a  new  discovery ;  but  it  must  not 
come  dead  into  the  little  world,  nor  lie  dead  therein, 
lest  it  obscure  the  small  horizon  and  crush  the  little 
world. 

Therefore,  the  child  would  know  himself  why  he 
loves  this  thing ;  he  would  know  all  its  properties,  its 
innermost  nature,  that  he  may  learn  to  understand  him- 
self in  his  attachment.  For  this  reason  the  child  ex- 
amines the  object  on  all  sides ;  for  this  reason  he  tears 
and  breaks  it ;  for  this  reason  he  puts  it  in  his  mouth 
and  bites  it.  We  reprove  the  child  for  his  naughtiness 
and  foolishness ;  and  yet  he  is  wiser  than  we  who  re- 
prove him. 

The  child  would  know  the  inner  nature  of  the  thing. 


74  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

An  innate  instinct  which,  properly  appreciated  and 
guided,  would  seek  to  find  God  in  all  his  works,  urges 
him  to  this.  God  gave  him  understanding,  reason,  lan- 
guage. Those  who  lead  his  life  do  not,  can  not  gratify 
this  instinct.  Where,  then,  shall  the  child  seek  gratifi- 
cation for  this  instinct  of  research,  if  not  from  the  ob- 
ject itself  ? 

It  is  true  the  broken  object,  too,  is  dumb ;  yet  it 
reveals  in  its  fragments  at  least  either  like  or  unlike 
parts,  as  is  instanced  in  the  broken  stone,  the  torn 
flower,  and  this  means  an  extension  of  knowledge.  Do 
adults  extend  their  knowledge  in  a  different  way  ?  Is 
not  the  inside  of  the  plant  pithy,  hollow,  or  woody  'i  Is 
not  its  cross-section  circular,  triangular,  square,  polyg- 
onal ?  Is  not  the  fracture  even  or  uneven,  smooth  or 
rough,  impervious  or  porous,  splintery  or  conchoidal,  or 
hackly  or  fibrous  ?  Are  not  the  fragments  sharp  or 
blunt-edged  ?  Is  it  not  brittle,  or  does  it  not  rather 
yield  to  the  blows  without  breaking  ? 

All  this  the  child  does  in  order  that  from  the  diver- 
sity of  outer  manifestations  of  the  object  its  inner  na- 
ture and  its  relation  to  him  may  become  revealed  to 
him,  that  he  may  know  the  cause  of  his  liking,  his  fond- 
ness of  the  object  ?  And  do  we  adults  who  seek  knowl- 
edge proceed  differently  ? 

We  overlook  this  in  the  child's  activity,  and  we  do 
not  recognize  its  value  and  significance  until  the  teacher 
does  it,  and  requests  our  sons  to  do  it. 

Therefore,  even  the  lucid  word  of  the  most  lucid 
teacher  frequently  has  no  influence  upon  our  sons  ;  for 
they  are  asked  to  learn  now  with  the  teacher  what  they 
should  have  learned  in  childhood  with  the  help  of  our 


MAN  IN  EARLIEST  CHILDHOOD.  75 

quickening  explanations ;  what,  indeed,  childhood  meant 
they  should  learn  almost  without  effort. 

And  yet  how  little  is  needed  from  attendants  to  aid 
childhood  in  this  tendency !  It  is  only  needful  to  desig- 
nate, to  name,  to  put  into  words  what  the  child  does, 
sees,  and  Unds. 

Rich,  indeed,  is  the  life  of  the  child  ripening  into 
boyhood ;  but  we  see  it  not.  Real  is  his  life,  but  we 
feel  it  not.  His  life  accords  with  the  destiny  and  mis- 
sion of  humanity,  but  we  know  it  not.  We  not  only 
fail  to  guard,  nurse,  and  develop  the  inner  germ  of  his 
life,  but  we  allow  it  to  be  stifled  and  crushed  by  the 
weight  of  his  own  instincts,  or  to  find  vent  on  some 
weaker  side  in  unnaturalness.  We  then  see  the  same 
phenomenon  which,  in  the  plant,  we  call  wild-shoot,  or 
water-shoot,  a  misdirection  of  the  energies,  of  the  de- 
sires and  instincts  in  the  child  (the  human  plant). 

E^ow,  at  last,  we  would  fain  give  another  direction 
to  the  energies,  desires,  and  instincts  of  the  child  grow- 
ing into  boyhood ;  but  it  is  too  late.  For  the  deep 
meaning  of  child-life  passing  into  boyhood  we  not  only 
failed  to  appreciate,  but  we  misjudged  it ;  we  not  only 
failed  to  nurse  it,  but  we  misdirected  and  crushed  it. 

§  36.  A  child  has  found  a  pebble.  In  order  to  de- 
termine by  experiment  its  properties,  he  has  rubbed  it 
on  a  board  near  by,  and  has  discovered  its  property  of 
imparting  color.  It  is  a  fragment  of  lime,  chiy,  red- 
stone,  or  chalk. 

See  how  he  delights  in  the  newly  discovered  prop- 
erty, and  how  busily  he  makes  use  of  it!  Soon  the 
whole  surface  of  the  board  is  changed. 

At  first  the  boy  took  delight  in  the  new  property. 


76  THE  EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

then  in  the  changed  surface — now  red,  now  white,  now 
black,  now  brown — but  soon  he  began  to  find  pleasure 
in  the  winding,  straight,  curved,  and  other  forms  that 
appear.  These  linear  phenomena  direct  his  attention 
to  the  linear  properties  of  surrounding  objects.  Now 
the  head  becomes  a  circle,  and  now  the  circular  line 
represents  the  head,  the  elliptical  curve  connected  with 
it  represents  the  body  ;  arms  and  legs  appear  as  straight 
or  broken  lines,  and  these  again  represent  arms  and  legs ; 
the  fingers  he  sees  as  straight  lines  meeting  in  a  common 
point,  and  lines  so  connected  are,  for  the  busy  child, 
again  hands  and  fingers ;  the  eyes  he  sees  as  dots,  and 
these  again  represent  eyes ;  and  thus  a  new  world  opens 
within  and  without.  For  what  man  tries  to  represent 
or  do  he  begins  to  understand. 

The  perception  and  representation  of  linear  relations 
open  to  the  child  on  the  threshold  of  boyhood  a  new 
world  in  various  directions.  'Not  only  can  he  represent 
the  outer  world  in  reduced  measure,  and  thus  compre- 
hend it  more  easily  with  his  eyes ;  not  only  can  he  re- 
produce outwardly  what  lives  in  his  mind  as  a  remi- 
niscence or  new  association,  but  the  knowledge  of  a 
wholly  new  invisible  world,  the  world  of  forces,  has  its 
tenderest  rootlets  right  here. 

The  ball  that  is  rolling  or  has  been  rolled,  the  stone 
that  has  been  thrown  and  falls,  the  water  that  was 
dammed  and  conducted  into  many  branching  ditches — 
all  these  have  taught  the  child  that  the  effect  of  a  force, 
in  its  individual  manifestations,  is  always  in  the  direc- 
tion of  a  line. 

Thus  the  representation  of  objects  by  lines  soon 
leads  the  child  to  the  perception  and  representation  of 


MAN  IN  EARLIEST   CHILDHOOD.  Y7 

the  direction  in  which  a  force  acts.  "  Here  flows  a 
brook,"  and,  saying  this,  the  child  makes  a  mark  indi- 
cating the  course  of  a  brook.  The  child  has  drawn  lines 
signifying  to  him  a  tree.  "  Here  grows  another  branch, 
and  here  still  another,"  and  as  he  speaks  he  draws  forth 
from  the  tree,  as  it  were,  the  Hnes  indicating  the 
branches. 

Yery  significantly  the  child  says,  "  Here  comes  a 
bird  flying,"  and  draws  in  the  direction  of  the  supposed 
flight  a  winding  line. 

Give  the  child  a  bit  of  clialk  or  the  like,  and  soon 
a  new  creation  will  stand  before  him  and  you.  Let 
the  father,  too,  in  a  few  Hnes,  sketch  a  man,  a  horse. 
This  man  of  lines,  this  horse  of  lines,  will  give  the 
child  more  joy  than  an  actual  man,  an  actual  horse 
would  do. 

§  37.  Mothers  and  attendants,  would  you  know  how 
to  lead  the  child  in  this  matter  ?  See  and  observe  the 
child  ;  he  will  teach  you  what  to  do. 

Here  a  child  traces  a  table  by  passing  its  fingers 
along  its  edges  and  outlines,  as  far  as  he  can  reach  them. 
Thus  the  child  sketches  the  object  on  the  object  itself, 
as  it  were.  This  is  the  first,  and,  for  the  child,  the 
safest  step  by  which  he  first  becomes  aware  of  the  out- 
lines and  forms  of  objects.  In  like  manner  he  sketches 
and  studies  the  chair,  the  bench,  the  window. 

Soon,  however,  the  child  advances.  He  draws  lines 
across  four-sided  boards  —  the  table,  the  seat  of  the 
chair  or  bench  —  vaguely  anticipating  that  this  is  the 
method  for  retaining  the  forms  and  relations  of  sur- 
faces. A  little  later  he  draws  the  form  in  reduced 
measure. 


78  THE   EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

Behold !  here  he  has  sketched  the  table,  the  chair, 
the  bench,  and  many  other  things,  on  the  table-top.* 
Do  yon  not  see  how  he  developed  and  grew  spontane- 
ously to  this  attainment  ? 

Objects  which  he  could  move,  which  he  could  take 
in  at  one  glance,  he  laid  on  a  board  or  bench  or  table, 
and  sketched  their  outline  by  passing  his  hand  around 
them.  Later  on,  scissors  and  boxes,  and  still  later,  leaves 
and  twigs,  nay,  the  child's  own  hand  and  the  shadows 
of  objects,  are  sketched  in  this  way. 

Many  things  are  gained  by  these  proceedings  of  the 
child — more  than  I  can  enumerate — a  clear  conception 
of  forms,  the  power  to  represent  the  forms  independ- 
ently, the  Hxing  of  the  forms  as  such,  strengthening  and 
practice  of  the  arm  and  hand  in  free  representation  of 
these. 

The  attentive  mother,  the  thoughtful  father,  the 
sympathetic  family  (witliout  any  of  them  having  ever 
drawn,  without  an  artist  among  them),  may  lead  the 
child  growing  into  boyhood  to  draw  with  tolerable  ac- 
curacy a  straight  line,  a  diagonal  or  diameter,  even  rect- 
angular objects  in  vertical  position  (e.  g.,  mirrors,  win- 
dows, and  many  other  things),  with  some  degree  of 
resemblance. 


*  It  was  formerly  not  uncommon  to  find  table- tops  made  of  large  slabs 
of  slate-st  me.  There  was  such  a  table  in  my  father's  house  when  I  was  a 
boy.  I  still  connect  with  it  many  a  fruitful  memory  of  earnest  studies  of 
form  and  outline,  of  delightful  trains  of  fancy,  and  of  vigorous  struggles  of 
invention  that  made  the  ugliest  weather  a  boon.  A  small  portable  black- 
board is  an  excellent  substitute  for  such  a  table.  It  will  accomplish  more 
for  the  child's  understanding  of  things,  and  for  the  vigorous  development 
of  a  healthy  imagination,  than  the  most  earnest  talks,  and  the  most  ideal 
story-books  could  do. — Tr. 


MAN  IN  EARLIEST   CHILDHOOD.  Y9 

It  is  not  only  conducive  but  necessary  to  tlie  devel- 
opment and  strengthening  of  the  child's  power  and  skill 
that  parents  should,  without  being  pedantic  or  too  exact- 
ing, connect  the  child's  actions  with  suitable  language, 
Co  g.,  "  Now  I  draw  a  table,  a  mirror ;  now  I  draw  the 
diagonal  of  the  slate,  of  the  board." 

This  enhances  the  inner  and  the  outer  power,  in- 
creases knowledge,  awakens  the  judgment  and  reflection, 
which  avoids  so  many  blunders,  and  which,  in  a  natural 
way^  can  not  be  aroused  too  soon.  For  the  word  and 
the  drawing  *  are  always  mutually  explanatory  and  com- 
plementary ;  for  neither  one  is,  by  itself,  exhaustive  and 
sufficient  with  reference  to  the  object  represented.  The 
drawing  properly  stands  between  the  word  and  the 
thing,  shares  certain  qualities  with  each  of  them,  and  is, 
therefore,  so  valuable  in  the  development  of  the  child. 
The  true  drawing  has  this  in  common  with  the  thing, 
that  it  seeks  to  represent  it  in  form  and  outline ;  like 
the  word,  however,  it  never  is  the  thing  itself,  but  only 
an  image  of  the  thing.  The  word  and  the  drawing  are 
again  clearly  opposed  in  their  nature :  for  the  drawing 
is  dead,  w^iile  the  word  lives ;  the  drawing  is  visible,  as 
the  word  is  audible.  The  word  and  the  drawing,  there- 
fore, belong  together  inseparably,  as  light  and  shadow, 
night  and  day,  soul  and  body  do.  The  faculty  of  draw- 
ing is,  therefore,  as  much  innate  in  the  child,  in  man,  as 
is  the  faculty  of  speech,  and  demands  its  development 
and  cultivation  as  imperatively  as  the  latter  ;  experience 
shows  this  clearly  in  the  child's  love  for  drawing,  in  the 
child's  instinctive  desire  for  drawing. 

*  I  translate  Zeichen  here  by  drawing^  not  symbol,  inasmuch  as  Froe- 
bel  has  reference  to  the  drawings  just  described. — Tr. 


80  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

[Drawing  offers  the  child  the  full  connection  between  the  inner 
and  the  outer,  so  far  as  the  eye  is  concerned.  Here  outer  objects  are 
freed  of  all  the  attributes  of  corporeality ;  and  yet  their  images  have 
a  visible  reality,  and  vividly  recall  the  absent  attributes.  Here  the 
child  gives  visible  expression  to  his  ideas.  Here  he  feels  the  full 
delight  of  creating,  as  it  were,  whatever  his  fancy  dictates.  This 
accounts  for  the  evident  eagerness  with  which  he  returns,  again  and 
again,  to  slate  and  pencil,  and  for  the  satisfaction  with  which  he 
lingers  with  them. —  Tr.] 

§  38.  The  representation  of  objects  bj  and  in  draw- 
ing induces  and  implies  clear  perception,  and  this  soon 
leads  the  child  to  the  ready  recognition  of  the  constantly 
repeated  association  of  certain  numbers  of  similar  ob- 
jects— e.  g.,  two  eyes  and  two  arms,  five  fingers  and 
five  toes,  the  six  legs  of  the  beetle  and  of  the  fly.  Thus 
the  drawing  of  the  object  leads  to  the  discovery  of  num- 
ber (see  §§  75,  99).  The  repeated  return  of  one  and  the 
same  object,  leads  to  counting.  The  fixed  distinctive 
sum  of  objects  similar  in  certain  respects  constitutes 
the  number  of  these  objects.  Thus,  by  a  new  discovery, 
by  the  development  and  cultivation  of  the  number- fac- 
ulty in  the  child,  his  sphere  of  knowledge,  his  world,  is 
again  extended ;  and  an  essential  need  of  his  inner  be- 
ing, a  certain  yearning  of  his  spirit,  is  satisfied  by  this 
development.  For  the  child  has  heretofore  viewed  his 
greater  or  smaller  quantities  of  similar  and  dissimilar 
objects  with  a  certain  longing,  a  vague  feeling  that  he 
still  lacks  a  certain  means  of  knowledge.  He  was  still 
unable  to  recognize  and  to  determine  the  relative  quan- 
tities of  these  different  heaps  of  things ;  but  now  he 
knows  he  has  two  large  and  three  small  pebbles,  four 
white  and  five  yellow  flowers,  etc.  The  knowledge  of 
number  relations  adds  very  much  to  the  child's  life. 


MAN  IN  EARLIEST   CHILDHOOD.  81 

The  mind  of  the  child  requires,  however,  that  the 
mother  and  other  attendants  should,  from  the  very  be- 
ginning and  early,  develop  in  the  child  the  number- 
faculty  in  accordance  with  the  nature  of  number,  and 
with  the  specific  laws  of  human  thought. 

If  the  child  is  quietly  observed,  it  will  be  easy  to 
see  how  he  follows  spontaneously  the  road  implied  by 
the  laws  of  human  thought,  proceeding  from  the  visi- 
ble to  the  invisible  and  more  abstract.  He  does  this 
unconsciously,  it  is  true,  but  surely.  At  first  the  child 
places  together  similar  objects,  and  obtains  thus,  e.  g., 
apples,  pears,  nuts,  beans. 

Let,  now,  the  mother  or  some  other  attendant  add  the 
explanatory  word ;  in  other  words,  let  them  join  the 
visible  with  the  audible,  thus  bringing  it  nearer  the 
child's  insight  and  knowledge,  nearer  his  inner  percep- 
tion, by  naming  these  objects. 

Who  has  not  observed  and  had  frequent  opportuni- 
ties to  see  how  the  child  arranges  the  objects  of  each 
kind  singly  in  a  row  ?     Let  the  mother  here  again  add 
the  explanatory,  quickening  word,  saying,  e.  g. : 
Apple,  apple,  apple,  apple,  etc. ;  all  apples. 
Pear,  pear,  pear,  pear,  etc. ;  all  pears ; 
or  whatever  else  the  child   may  have   placed   in  the 
rows — nuts,  beans,  pebbles,  or  leaves — of  each  kind  of 
objects  there   are  always   several.     Now,  in   order  to 
enable  the  child  particularly  to  see  this,  let  the  mother 
speak  the  words  in  common  with  the  child,  as  just  in- 
dicated. 

Later,  when  the  mother  has  the  child  to  arrange  the 
objects  one  after  the  other,  let  her  describe  this  proceed- 
ing with  the  child  definitely  and  clearly,  thus : 


82  THE   EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

One  apple,  another  apple,  still  another  apple  ;  many 
apples. 

One  pear,  another  pear,  still  another  pear;  many 
pears. 

And  so  on  with  other  objects.  The  quantity  of 
each  kind  of  objects  is  continually  increased  by  the 
regular  addition  of  a  new  object  of  the  same  kind. 

Instead  of  the  indefinite  words  "  another,"  "  still  an- 
other," the  mother  subsequently  uses  the  numerals  defi- 
nitely indicating  the  increase,  counting  together  with 
tlie  child,  thus : 

One  apple,  two  apples,  three  apples,  etc. 

One  pear,  two  pears,  three  pears,  four  pears,  etc. 

Again,  let  the  mother  place  several  objects  of  each 
kind  in  naturally  increasing  quantities,  in  successive  sets, 
and  indicate  in  words  what  she  does,  thus : 
*  apple,  *  pear, 

*  *  apples,  *  *  pears, 

*  *  *  apples,  etc.  *  ^c  *  pears,  etc. 

Subsequently,  again,  let  mother  and  child  pronounce  to- 
gether. At  last  let  the  child  do  the  arranging  as  well 
as  the  speaking,  counting  alone. 

While  here  with  each  number  the  kind  of  object 
was  still  named,  let,  subsequently,  the  numbers  only  be 
named  and  reserve  the  name  of  the  kind  of  object  for 
the  last  number,  thus : 

*  (one),  *  *  (two),  *  *  *  (three),  *  *  *  *  (four  apples) ; 

*  (one),  *  *  (two),  *  *  *  (three),  *  *  *  *  (four  pears),  etc. 

Here  the  successive  groups  of  objects  are  considered 
chiefiy  with  reference  to  their  numbers,  the  considera- 
tion of  the  kind  of  object  lying  in  the  background. 
Lastly,  the  mother  names  only  the  numbers  in  the 


MAN  m  EARLIEST  CHILDHOOD.  83 

series,  leaving  the  kind  of  objects  wholly  out  of  consid- 
eration, thus : 

*  (one),  *  *  (two),  *  *  *  (three),  *  *  *  *  (four),  *****  (five),  etc. 

This  is  the  abstract  consideration  and  perception  of 
groups  in  their  natural  succession,  the  perception  of 
numbers  as  such. 

In  this  way  a  clear  and  sure  knowledge  of  numbers 
(at  least  up  to  ten)  should  be  developed  in  the  period 
of  childhood.  But  at  no  time  should  the  numerals  be 
given  to  the  child  as  empty,  unmeaning  sounds  and  be 
thus  repeated  by  him;  by  such  a  method  the  child 
might  be  led  to  count  two,  four,  seven,  eight,  one, 
five,  two,  if  it  were  not  rescued  at  last  by  the  native 
power  of  the  human  mind,  throwing  off  all  things  un- 
natural. 

For  a  long  time  the  child  should  never  say  the  nu- 
merals, which,  in  themselves,  are  empty  and  meaning- 
less to  him,  without  the  aid  of  objects  which  he  actually 
counts. 

In  this  presentation  of  the  development  of  number 
ideas  there  has  been  given,  at  the  same  time,  an  illus- 
tration in  what  manner  and  according  to  what  laws  the 
child  ascends  from  the  perception  of  individual  things 
to  the  more  general  and  the  most  general  conceptions. 
It  is  true,  in  experience,  this  transition  is  often  quite 
sudden. 

§  39.  What  wealth,  what  abundance  and  vigor  of 
inner  and  outer  life,  do  w^e  now  find  in  the  rightly 
guided  and  guarded  child  toward  the  close  of  childhood 
and  entrance  into  the  period  of  boyhood !  Where  will 
the  coming  man  find  an  object  of  thought  and  feeling, 
of  knowledge  and  skill,  that  does  not  have  its  tenderest 


84:  THE   EDUCATION    OF   MAN. 

rootlets  in  tlie  years  of  childliood  ?  What  subject  of 
future  instruction  and  discipline  does  not  germinate  in 
childhood  ? 

Language  and  nature  lie  open  before  the  child.  He 
begins  to  apprehend  the  properties  of  number,  form, 
magnitude,  the  knowledge  of  space,  the  nature  of  forces, 
the  effects  of  substances.  Color,  rhythm,  melodious 
sound,  and  shapeliness  have  impressed  him  in  their  ul- 
timate germs  and  in  their  peculiar  significance.  He  has 
begun  to  distinguish,  with  some  degree  of  definiteness, 
nature  and  the  world  of  art,  and  has  commenced,  with 
some  degree  of  certainty,  to  contrast  himself  with  the 
outer  world  ;  already  there  has  been  aroused  in  him  the 
consciousness  of  an  inner  world  of  his  own.  JSTeverthe- 
less,  we  have  as  yet  not  touched  nor  even  considered  an 
important  side  of  child-life,  the  side  of  association  with 
father  and  mother,  brother  and  sister,  in  their  domestic 
cares,  in  their  professional  duties. 

§  40.  I  look  about  me :  I  see  the  scarcely  two-year- 
old  child  of  a  day-laborer  leading  his  horse ;  the  father 
has  placed  the  halter  in  the  child's  hands.  Calmly  and 
deliberately  the  little  fellow  walks  before  the  horse,  and 
looks  back  with  steady  eye  to  see  if  the  horse  is  follow- 
ing. It  is  true,  the  father  holds  the  check-reins  in  his 
hand,  still  the  child  firmly  believes  that  he  leads  the 
horse,  that  the  horse  must  obey  him.  For,  see,  the 
father  stops  to  speak  to  an  acquaintance,  and,  of  course, 
the  horse  stops  too ;  but  the  child,  thinking  the  horse 
willful,  pulls  the  halter  with  all  his  might  to  make  it 
go  on. 

My  neighbor's  son,  scarcely  three  years  old,  tends 
his  mother's   goslings   near  my  garden-hedge.      The 


MAN  IN  EARLIEST  CHILDHOOD.  85 

space  to  which  he  is  to  confine  the  lively  little  creatures 
in  their  search  for  food  is  small.  They  escape  from  the 
little  swain,  who  may  have  been  busy  in  other  ways, 
seeking  food  for  his  mind.  The  goslings  get  into  the 
road,  where  they  are  exposed  to  injury.  The  mother 
sees  this,  and  calls  out  to  the  child  to  be  careful.  The 
little  boy  who,  by  the  ever-renewed  efforts  for  freedom 
on  the  part  of  the  goslings,  probably  had  been  often 
disturbed  in  his  own  pursuits,  retorts  in  his  vexation, 
"  Mother,  you  seem  to  think  it  is  not  hard  to  tend  the 
goslings." 

Who  can  indicate  the  present  and  future  develop- 
ments which  the  child  reaps  from  this  part  of  the 
parent's  work,  and  which  he  might  reap  even  more 
abundantly,  if  parents  and  attendants  heeded  the  mat- 
ter and  made  use  of  it  later  on  in  the  Instruction  and 
training  of  their  children  ? 

Behold  here  the  little  child  of  the  gardener.  He  is 
weeding ;  the  child  wishes  to  help,  and  he  teaches  the 
little  fellow  to  distinguish  hemlock  from  parsley,  to 
observe  the  differences  in  the  brilliancy  and  odor  of  the 
leaves. 

There  the  forester's  son  accompanies  his  father  to 
the  clearing  that,  at  some  previous  time,  they  together 
had  sown.  Everything  looks  green.  The  child  sees 
only  young  pine-plants ;  but  the  father  teaches  him  to 
recognize  the  cypress-spurge  and  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  pine-plant  by  its  different  properties. 

Again,  the  father  takes  aim  and  fires ;  he  hits  the 

mark,  and  teaches  the  attentive  child  that  three  points 

that  lie  in  the  same  direction  always  lie  in  one  and  the 

same  straight  line ;  that  in  order  to  direct  a  line — the 

8 


86  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

barrel  of  the  rifle — toward  a  certain  point,  three  points 
must  be  laid  in  this  direction,  and  that,  when  this  has 
been  done,  all  other  points  of  the  gun-barrel  lie  in  the 
same  line  and  direction. 

In  another  place  the  child  sees  his  father  striking 
the  hot  iron,  and  is  taught  bj  the  father  that  the  heat 
makes  the  iron  softer ;  and,  again,  as  the  father  tries  in 
vain  to  push  the  heated  iron  rod  through  an  opening 
through  which  before  it  passed  so  easily,  that  heat  ex- 
pands the  iron. 

[Froebel  here  continues  through  three  pages  to  fur- 
nish similar  illustrations  from  a  variety  of  professions 
and  trades,  showing  the  exhaustless  wealth  of  informa- 
tion and  discipline  that  may  come  to  the  child  from  this 
loving  intercourse  with  a  kind  and  thoughtful  father 
in  his  daily  work. — TrJ] 

The  child — your  child,  ye  fathers — feels  this  so  in- 
tensely, so  vividly,  that  he  follows  you  wherever  yon 
are,  wherever  you  go,  in  whatever  you  do.  Do  not 
harshly  repel  him ;  show  no  impatience  about  his  ever- 
recurring  questions.  Every  harshly  repelling  word 
crushes  a  bud  or  shoot  of  his  tree  of  life.  Do  not,  how- 
ever, tell  him  in  words  much  more  than  he  could  find 
himself  without  your  w^ords.  For  it  is,  of  course,  easier 
to  hear  the  answer  from  another,  perhaps  to  only  half 
hear  and  understand  it,  than  it  is  to  seek  and  dis- 
cover it  himself.  To  have  found  one  fourth  of  the 
answer  by  his  own  effort  is  of  more  value  and  impor- 
tance to  the  child  than  it  is  to  half  hear  and  half  under- 
stand it  in  the  words  of  another ;  for  this  causes  mental 
indolence.  Do  not,  therefore,  always  answer  your 
children's  questions  at  once  and  directly ;  but,  as  soon 


MAN  IN  EARLIEST   CHILDHOOD.  87 

as  they  have  gathered  sufficient  strength  and  experience^ 
furnish  them  with  the  means  to  find  the  answers  in  the  J 
sphere  of  their  own  knowledge.  ^ 

Let  parents — more  particularly  fathers  (for  to  their 
special  care  and  guidance  the  child  ripening  into  boy- 
hood is  confided)— let  fathers  contemplate  what  the 
fulfillment  of  their  paternal  duties  in  child-guidance 
yields  to  them ;  let  them  feel  the  joys  it  brings.  It  is 
not  possible  to  gain  from  anything  higher  joy,  higher 
enjoyment,  than  we  do  from  the  guidance  of  our  chil- 
dren, from  living  with  and  for  our  children.  It  is  in- 
conceivable how  we  can  seek  and  expect  to  find  any- 
where higher  joy,  higher  enjoyment,  fuller  gratification 
of  our  best  desires  than  we  can  find  in  intercourse  with 
our  children ;  more  recreation  than  we  can  find  in  the 
family  circle,  where  we  can  create  joy  for  ourselves  in 
so  many  respects. 

We  should  be  deeply  impressed  with  the  truth  of 
these  statements  could  we  but  see  in  his  plain  home- 
surroundings,  in  his  happy,  joyous  family,  the  father 
who,  from  his  own  resources,  has  created  what  here  has 
been  but  partially  described.  In  a  few  words  he  sums 
up  his  rule  of  conduct:  '^To  lead  children  early  to 
think,  this  I  consider  the  first  and  foremost  object  of 
child-training." 

To  give  them  early  habits  of  work  and  industry 
seemed  to  him  so  natural  and  obvious  a  course  as  to  need 
no  statement  in  words.  Besides,  the  child  that  has 
been  led  to  think  will  thereby,  at  the  same  time,  be 
led  to  industry,  diligence  —  to  all  domestic  and  civic 
virtues. 

Those  words  are  a  seed  from  which  springs  a  shady. 


88  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN, 

evergreen  tree  of  life,  full  of  fragrant  blossoms  and 
soundj  ripe  fruit.  May  those  of  us  who  allow  our  chil- 
dren to  grow  up  thoughtless  and  idle,  and  therefore 
dull  and  dead,  hear  and  heed  this ! 

§  41.  But — it  is  hard  to  say  it,  yet  its  truth  will  ap- 
pear if,  in  our  intercourse  and  life  with  our  children, 
we  cast  a  searching  glance  upon  the  condition  of  our 
minds  and  hearts — we  are  dull,  our  surroundings  are 
dull  to  us.  With  all  our  knowledge,  we  are  empty  for 
our  children.  Almost  all  we  say  is  hollow  and  empty, 
without  meaning  and  without  life.  Only  in  the  few 
rare  cases,  when  our  discourse  rests  on  intercourse 
with  life  and  nature,  we  enjoy  its  life. 

Let  us  hasten,  then !  Let  us  impart  life  to  ourselves, 
to  our  children ;  let  us  through  them  give  meaning  to 
our  speech  and  life  to  the  things  about  us !  Let  us  live 
with  them,  and  let  them  live  wdtli  us ;  thus  shall  we 
obtain  through  them  what  we  all  need. 

Our  words,  our  discourses  in  social  life,  are  dull,  are 
empty  husks,  lifeless  puppets,  worthless  chips  ;  they  are 
devoid  of  inner  life  and  meaning ;  they  are  evil  spirits, 
for  they  have  neither  body  nor  substance. 

Our  surroundings  are  dead  and  dull.  Objects  are 
matter.  They  crush,  instead  of  lifting  us,  for  they  lack 
the  quickening  word  that  gives  them  significance  and 
meaning. 

We  do  not  feel  the  meaning  of  what  we  say,  for  our 
speech  is  made  up  of  memorized  ideas,  based  neither 
on  perception  nor  on  productive  effort.  Therefore,  it 
does  not  lead  to  perception,  production,  life ;  it  has  not 
proceeded,  it  does  not  proceed,  from  life. 

Our  speech  is  like  the  book  out  of  which  we  have 


MAN  IN  EARLIEST  CHILDHOOD.  89 

learned  it,  at  third  or  fourth  hand.  We  do  not  our- 
selves see  what  we  say,  we  can  not  give  outer  form  to 
what  we  say.  Therefore,  our  speech  is  so  empty  and 
meaningless.  For  this  reason,  and  only  for  this,  our 
inward  and  outward  life,  as  well  as  the  life  of  our  chiL 
dren,  is  so  poor,  because  our  speech  is  not  born  from  a 
life,  rich  inwardly  and  outwardly,  in  seeing  and  doing ; 
because  our  speech,  our  word,  is  not  based  on  the  per- 
ception of  the  thing  it  designates.  Therefore,  we  hear 
the  sound,  it  is  true,  but  we  fail  to  get  the  image ;  we 
hear  the  noise,  but  see  no  movement. 

§  42.  Fathers,  parents,  let  us  see  that  our  children 
may  not  suffer  from  similar  deficiencies.  What  we  no 
longer  possess — the  all-quickening,  creative  power  of 
child-life — let  it  again  be  translated  from  their  life  into 
ours. 

Let  us  learn  from  our  children,  let  us  give  heed  to 
the  gentle  admonitions  of  their  life,  to  the  silent  de- 
mands of  their  minds. 

Let  us  live  with  our  children :  then  will  the  life  of 
our  children  bring  us  peace  and  joy,  then  shall  we  begin 
to  grow  wise,  to  be  wise. 

[This  celebrated  saying,  "  Kommt,  lasst  uns  unsern  Kindern  le- 
ben  /  "  is  frequently  translated,  "  Come,  let  us  live  for  our  children ! " 
Unsern  Kindern  is  the  dative  case,  and  implies  here  devotion  to,  ab- 
sorption in,  harmony  ivith,  the  life  of  our  children.  It  seems  to  me 
that  this  is  more  fully  expressed  by  the  preposition  with.  With  im- 
plies that  both,  we  and  the  children,  are  equally  active  ;  for  seems 
to  place  the  burden  on  us,  and  renders  the  children  passive  recipients 
of  our  bounty. 

Living  with  our  children  means  entering  fully  into  their  simple 
ways  of  seeing  and  saying,  of  feeling  and  thinking,  of  willing  and 
doing ;  it  means  placing  at  their  service  our  wider  knowledge,  our 
greater  strength,  patiently  helping  them,  guarding  and  guiding 


90  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

them  in  their  life,  in  their  spontaneous  search  for  light  and  love ;  it 
means  joining  them  in  their  simple  truthfulness,  their  childish  faith 
in  man,  and  leading  them  on  the  basis  of  this  to  a  higher  and 
mightier  faith  in  the  immutable  laws  of  nature  and  of  God;  it 
means  being  true  with  them  so  that  they  may  reach  higher  truth ;  it 
means  loving  with  them  what  they  love,  so  that  with  our  help  they 
may  learn  to  love  the  highest  good. 

Living  with  our  children  implies  on  our  part  sympathy  with 
childhood,  adaptability  to  children,  and  knowledge  and  appreciation 
of  child-nature;  it  implies  genuine  interest  in  all  that  interests 
them,  to  rejoice  and  grieve  with  them  in  the  measure  of  their  joy 
and  grief,  not  merely  in  the  measure  of  our  appreciation  of  loss  or 
gain,  of  substance  or  shadow ;  it  implies  seeing  ourselves  with  the 
eyes  of  a  child,  hearing  ourselves  with  the  ears  of  a  child,  judging 
ourselves  with  the  keen  intuition  of  a  child. 

Froebel  even  sees  in  it  the  expression  of  a  universal  law  in  its 
application  to  the  lite  of  humanity ;  it  means  to  him  the  realization 
in  consciousness  of  the  organic  connection  of  human  life  in  succes- 
sive generations.  "  The  loving  heart,"  he  says  elsewhere,  "  feels  it 
in  all  things,  the  eager  mind  sees  it  in  all  things  as  a  cosmic 
thought ;  the  heart  and  the  mind  find  it  in  the  universe  of  vvhich 
man  himself  is  only  an  organic  part.  Does  not  the  sun  proclaim 
it  to  the  earth  and  all  her  creatures,  all  her  children  ?  Do  not  the 
elements — earth,  water,  air,  light,  and  heat — proclaim  it  to  each 
other  with  reference  to  all  earthly  things  I  Do  not,  again,  in  each 
plant  all  the  various  parts  proclaim  this  to  each  other  with  reference 
to  the  seed  growing  in  quiet  seclusion?  In  all  nature,  wherever 
there  are  life  and  activity,  we  find  this  thought :  '  Come,  let  us  live 
with  our  children' — revealed  as  a  law  comprehending  all  life." — TrJ\ 

§  43.  During  the  period  of  human  development 
heretofore  considered,  the  objects  of  the  external  world 
were  intimately  connected  with  the  word,  and  through 
the  word  with  the  human  being. 

This  period,  therefore,  is  pre-eminently  the  period 
of  development  of  the  faculty  of  speech.  Therefore, 
in  all  the  child  did,  it  was  so  indispensable  that  what- 
ever he  did  should  be  clearly  and  definitely  designated 


MAN  IN   EARLIEST  CHILDHOOD.  91 

by  the  word,  connected  with  the  word.  Every  object, 
every  thing  became  such,  as  it  were,  only  through  the 
word ;  before  it  had  been  named,  although  the  child 
might  have  seemed  to  see  it  with  the  outer  eyes,  it  had 
no  existence  for  the  child.  The  name,  as  it  were,  created 
the  thing  for  the  child ;  hence  the  name  and  the  thing 
seemed  to  be  one,  like  the  stem  and  the  marrow,  the 
branch  and  the  twdg.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this  intimate 
connection  of  the  object  with  its  name,  and,  through 
this,  with  man — and  this  can  not  be  too  clearly  noticed 
and  too  carefully  followed  by  the  educator — every  object 
at  this  stage  of  human  development  is  again  so  entirely 
distinct  from  all  others,  each  object  and  each  whole, 
too,  shows  in  its  parts  no  organic  connection.  The  des- 
tiny of  man  and  of  things,  however,  tends  in  a  very 
different  direction.  Not  only  should  man  consider  each 
thing  as  an  undivided  whole,  but  he  should  also  look 
upon  it  as  organized  in  its  parts  for  a  common  pur- 
pose. He  is  to  view  it  not  only  as  an  independent 
w^hole,  an  individual  unit,  but  he  should  also  view 
it  as  a  member  of  a  relatively  greater  and  higher 
whole,  fulfilling  a  higher  common  purpose.  Of  each 
thing  he  is  to  know  not  only  its  external  conditions 
and  associations,  but  its  inner  relationships,  its  in- 
ner unity  with  what  seems  to  be  outw^ardly  distinct 
from  it. 

§  44.  Yet  the  totality  of  what  surrounds  man  as  his 
outer  world  can  not  be  known  by  him  in  its  oneness ; 
he  can  find  it  only  in  the  knowledge  of  the  peculiar 
nature  of  each  thing,  the  individuality  and  personality 
of  each  object. 

l^ow,  man  finds  it  diflacult  to  recognize  a  thing — 


92  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

the  inner  nature  of  a  thing — if  it  is  brought  too  close 
to  him  inwardly  and  outwardly ;  and  the  difficulty  is 
increased  in  the  measure  in  which  it  approaches  him 
too  closely,  inwardly  and  outwardly.  The  misunder- 
standings between  parent  and  child  in  the  family  circle 
furnish  frequent  and  speaking  proofs  for  this.  For 
this  reason  man  finds  it  so  difficult  to  know  himself. 
On  the  other  hand,  external  separation  often  brings 
about  inner  unity,  inner  recognition  and  appreciation. 
Thus,  alas!  man  knows  many  foreign  things — foreign 
objects,  other  times,  other  men — better  than  his  home 
surroundings,  his  own  time,  better  than  himself.  If 
man  would  know  himseK  truly,  he  must  represent  him- 
self externally,  must  place  himself  over  against  him- 
self, as  it  were.  Now,  if  man  in  obedience  to  his  des- 
tiny is  truly  and  thoroughly  to  know  each  thing  of  the 
surrounding  world ;  if,  with  the  aid  of  each  thing,  he 
is  truly  and  thoroughly  to  know  himself,  the  period  of 
childhood  which  unites  man  and  object  must  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  new  period  opposed  to  its  predecessor  in 
its  nature ;  a  period  which  separates  man  and  object, 
which  outwardly  opposes  them  to  one  another,  but 
unites  them  inwardly ;  a  period  which  brings  the  ob- 
jects inwardly  nearer  to  man  by  separating  the  object 
from  its  name,  considers  the  object  and  the  word  as 
separate,  distinct,  yet  uniting  things.  This  period, 
when  language  assumes  an  independent  existence,  is  the 
One  that  now  follows. 

When  he  learns  to  separate  the  name  from  the 
thing,  and  the  thing  from  its  name,  the  speech  from 
the  speaker,  and  vice  versa  j  when,  later  on,  language 
itself  is  externalized   and  materialized   in  signs   and 


MAN   IN  EARLIEST  CHILDHOOD.  93 

writing,  and  begins  to  be  considered  as  something 
actually  corporeal,  man  leaves  the  period  of  childhood 
and  enters  the  jperiod  of  hoy  hood, 

[In  an  additional  paragraph,  Froebel  indulges  in  a  play  on  the  word 
KnabCy  boy^  seeking  to  fix  the  idea  that  this  is  the  period  when  man,  by  his 
own  strength,  consciously  appropriates  the  external.— TV.] 


III. 

THE  BOYHOOD   OF  MAK 

§  45.  As  tlie  preceding  period  of  human  develop- 
ment, the  period  of  childhood^  was  predominantly  that 
of  life  for  the  sake  merely  of  living,  for  making  the  in- 
ternal external,  so  the  jperiod  of  hoyhood  is  predomi- 
nantly the  period  for  lea/rning^  for  making  the  external 
internal. 

On  the  part  of  parents  and  educators  the  period  of 
infancy  demanded  chiefly  fostering  care.  During  the 
succeeding  period  of  childhood,  which  looks  upon  man 
predominantly  as  a  unit,  and  would  lead  him  to  nnity, 
training  prevails.  The  period  of  boyhood  leads  man 
chiefly  to  the  consideration  of  particular  relationships 
and  individual  things,  in  order  to  enable  him  later  on 
to  discover  their  inner  unity.  The  inner  tendencies 
and  relationships  of  individual  things  and  conditions  are 
sought  and  established  (see  §  56). 

Now,  the  consideration  and  treatment  of  individual 
and  particular  things,  as  such,  and  in  their  inner  bear- 
ings and  relationships,  constitute  the  essential  character 
and  work  of  instruction ;  therefore,  hoyhood  is  the  pe- 
riod in  ivhich  instruction  predominates. 

This  instruction  is  conducted  not  so  much  in  accord- 
ance with  the  nature  of  man  as  in  accordance  with  the 


THE  BOYHOOD  OF  MAN.  95 

fixed,  definite,  clear  laws  that  lie  in  the  nature  of  things, 
and  more  particularly  the  laws  to  which  man  and  things 
are  equally  subject.  It  is  conducted  not  so  much  in  the 
method  in  which  the  universal,  eternal  law  finds  pecul- 
iar expression  in  man  as  rather  in  the  method  in  which 
this  law  finds  peculiar  expression  in  each  external  thing, 
or  simultaneous  expression  in  both  man  and  thing.  It 
is  conducted,  then,  in  accordance  with  fixed  and  definite 
conditions  lying  outside  the  human  being ;  and  this  im- 
plies knowledge,  insight,  a  conscious  and  comprehensive 
survey  of  the  field. 

Such  a  process  constitutes  the  school  in  the  widest 
sense  of  the  word.  The  school,  then,  leads  mafl  ,to_j;_ 
knowledge  of  external  things,  and  of  their  nature  in 
accordance  with  tJie  particular  and  general  laws  that  lie 
in  them ;  by  the  presentation  of  the  external,  the  indi- 
vidual, the  particular,  it  leads  man  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  internal,  of  unity,  of  the  universal.  Therefore,  on 
entering  the  period  of  boyhood,  man  becomes  at  the 
same  time  a  school-hoy.  With  this  period  school  begins 
for  him,  be  it  in  the  home  or  out  of  it,  and  taught  by 
the  father,  the  members  of  the  family,  or  a  teacher. 
School,  then,  means  here  by  no  means  the  school-room, 
nor  school-keeping,  but  the  conscious  communication  of 
knowledge,  for  a  definite  purpose  and  in  definite  inner 
connection  (see  §  56). 

Y^  %  46.  On  the  other  hand,  as  it  has  appeared  and  con- 
tinues to  appear  in  every  aspect,  the  development  and 
cultivation  of  man,  for  the  attainment  of  his  destiny 
and  fulfillment  of  his  mission,  constitute  an  unbroken 
whole,  steadily  and  continuously  progressing,  gradually 
ascending.    The  feeling  of  community,  awakened  in  the 


96  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

infant,  becomes  in  the  child  impulse,  inclination ;  these 
lead  to  the  formation  of  the  disposition  and  of  the  heart, 
and  arouse  in  the  boy  his  intellect  and  will. 

To  give  firmness  to  the  will,  to  quicken  it,  and  to 
make  it  pure,  strong,  and  enduring,  in  a  life  of  jpure 
humanity,  is  the  chief  concern,  the  main  oljject  in  the 
\  guidance  of  the  hoy,  in  instruction  amjd  the  school. 
j  §  47.  Will  is  the  mental  activity,  ever  consciously 

proceeding  from  a  definite  point  in  a  definite  direction 
toward  a  definite  object,  in  harmony  with  the  man's 
nature  as  a  whole. 

This  statement  contains  everything,  and  indicates  all 
that  parent  and  educator,  teacher  and  school,  should  be 
or  should  give  to  the  boy  in  example  and  precept  during 
these  years. 

The  starting-point  of  all  mental  activity  in  the  boy 
should  be  energetic  and  sound ;  the  source  whence  it 
flows,  pure,  clear,  and  ever  flowing ;  the  direction,  sim- 
ple, definite ;  the  object,  fixed,  clear,  living  and  life- 
giving,  elevating,  worthy  of  the  effort,  worthy  of  the 
destiny  and  mission  of  man,  worthy  of  his  essential  na- 
ture, and  tending  to  develop  it  and  to  give  it  full  ex- 
pression. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  impart  true,  genuine  firmness 
to  the  natural  will-activity  of  the  boy,  all  the  activities 
of  the  boy,  his  entire  will,  should  proceed  from  and  have 
reference  to  the  development,  cultivation,  and  represen- 
tation of  the  internal.  Instruction  in  example  and  in 
words,  which  later  on  become  precept  and  example,  fur- 
nishes the  means  for  this.  J^either  example  alone  nor 
words  alone  will  do :  not  example  alone,  for  it  is  par- 
ticular and  special,  and  the  word  is  needed  to  give  to 


THE  BOYHOOD  OF  MAN.  97 

particular  individual  examples  universal  applicability ; 
not  words  alone,  for  example  is  needed  to  interpret  and 
explain  the  word  wliich  is  general,  spiritual,  and  of 
many  meanings. 

But  instruction  and  example  alone  and  in  themselves 
are  not  sufficient :  they  must  meet  a  good,  pure  heart, 
and  this  is  an  outcome  of  proper  educational  influences 
in  childhood. 

Therefore,  the  cultivation  of  boyhood  rests  wholly 
on  that  of  childhood ;  therefore,  activity  and  firmness 
of  the  will  rest  upon  activity  and  firmness  of  tlie  feel- 
ings and  of  the  heart.  Where  the  latter  are  lacking, 
the  former  will  scarcely  be  attainable. 

§  48.  The  pure  and  good  heart  and  the  thoughtful 
and  gentle  sympathies  of  the  child  constitute  in  them- 
selves a  unity.  Hence  their  utterance  is  an  intense 
longing  to  find  for  the  many  externally  separate  things 
that  surround  the  child  an  inner  necessary  unity,  such  as 
he  feels  in  himself,  a  quickening  spiritual  bond  and  law 
—a  bond  and  law  by  which  these  things  may  gain  at  least 
the  significance  of  life  and  significance  for  life. 

Kow,  it  is  true,  for  the  period  of  childhood  this  long- 
ing is  gratified  in  the  complete  enjoyment  of  living 
play.  By  this,  in  the  period  of  childhood,  man  is  placed 
in  the  center  of  all  things,  and  all  things  are  seen  only 
in  relation  to  himself,  to  his  life.  Yet  above  all  it  is 
family-life  that  gratifies  this  longing  fully.  Family-life 
alone  secures  the  development  and  cultivation  of  a  good 
heart  and  of  a  thoughtful,  gentle  disposition  in  their 
full  intensity  and  vigor,  so  incomparably  important  for 
every  period  of  growth,  nay,  for  the  whole  life  of  man 
(see  §  86). 


98  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

Now,  inasmnoli  as  that  desire  for  unity  is  the 
basis  of  all  geniiinely  human  development  and  cul- 
tivation, and  inasmuch  as  every  separating  tendency 
hinders  pure  human  development,  man,  even  in  child- 
hood, refers  everything  to  family-life,  beholds  every- 
thing through  family-life,  as  is  shown  so  clearly  in 
childhood. 

For  the  child,  therefore,  the  life  of  his  own  family 
becomes  itself  an  external  thing  and  a  type  of  life. 
Parents  should  consider  this  fact  :  that  the  child  in  his 
own  life  would  fain  represent  this  type  in  the  purity, 
harmony,  and  efficiency  in  which  he  sees  it. 

[On  the  great  value  of  family-life,  see  also  §  86.  The  family  is 
to  Froebel  the  type  of  unified  human  life.  In  it  the  triune  essence  of 
humanity — light,  love,  and  life — is  individualized  in  father,  mother, 
and  child ;  light  predominating  in  the  father,  love  in  the  mother,  life 
in  the  child.  Of  these,  love  is  the  center  and  fulcrum,  as  the  mother, 
too,  is  at  the  center  and  fulcrum  of  the  family.  Light  may  secure 
individual  existence  and  furnish  insight,  but  love  alone  can  make 
life  worth  living,  love  alone  can  lead  to  the  suhordination  of  the  whole 
being  to  a  heart  turned  upward,  taught  lovingly  and  patiently — as 
mothers  teach — to  yearn  for  the  Infinite.  This  is  in  full  agreement 
with  his  primary  principle  of  life-unity ;  for  the  emotional  element 
of  our  being,  the  heart,  is  nearest  the  divinity  within  us.  Head  and 
hand  are  but  the  instruments  of  the  heart  from  which  they  receive 
their  direction. — 2V.] 

§  49.  Now,  in  the  family,  the  child  sees  the  parents 
and  other  members  of  the  family  at  work,  producing, 
doing  something ;  the  same  he  notices  with  adults  gen- 
erally in  life  and  in  those  active  interests  with  which  his 
family  is  concerned.  Consequently  the  child,  at  this 
stage,  would  like  himself  to  represent  what  he  sees.  He 
would  like  to  represent — and  tries  to  do  so — all  he  sees 
his  parents  and  other  adults  do  and  represent  in  work, 


THE  BOYHOOD  OF  MAN.  99 

all  which  he  thus  sees  represented  by  human  power  and 
human  skill.  ^ 

What  formerly  the  child  did  onljfor  the  sake  of  the  ] 
activity,  the  boj  now  does  for  the  sake  of  the  result  or ; 
product  of  his  activity ;  the  child's  instinct  of  activity 
has  in  the  boy  become  ^  forpiative  instinct,  diTidi  this 
occupies  the  whole  outward  life,  the  outward  manifes- 
tation of  boy-life  at  this  period  (see  §  23). 

How  cheerfully  and  eagerly  the  boy  and  the  girl  at 
this  age  begin  to  share  the  work  of  father  and  mother — 
not  the  easy  work,  indeed,  but  the  difficult  work,  calling 
for  strength  and  labor  ! 

Be  cautious,  be  careful  and  thoughtful,  at  this  point, 
O  parents  !  You  can  here  at  one  blow  destroy,  at  least 
for  a  long  time,  the  instinct  of  formative  activity  in 
your  children,  if  yOu  repel  their  help  as  childish,  use- 
less, of  little  avail,  or  even  as  a  hindrance. 

Do  not  let  the  urgency  of  your  business  tempt  you 
to  say,  "  Go  away,  you  only  hinder  me,"  or,  "I  am  in  a 
hurry,  leave  me  alone." 

Boys  and  girls  are  thus  disturbed  in  their  inner  ac- 
tivity; they  see  themselves  shut  out  from  the  whole 
with  which  they  felt  themselves  so  intimately  united ; 
their  inner  power  is  aroused,  but  they  see  themselves 
alone,  and  do  not  know  what  to  do  with  the  aroused 
power;  nay,  it  becomes  a  burden  to  them,  and  they 
become  fretful  and  indolent. 

After  a  third  rebuff  of  this  character,  scarcely  any 
child  will  again  propose  to  help  and  share  the  work, 
lie  becomes  fretful  and  dull,  even  when  he  sees  his 
parents  engaged  in  work  which  he  might  share.  Who 
has  not  later  on  heard  the  parents  of  such  children  com- 


100  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

plain :  "  "When  tMs  boy  (or  girl)  was  small  and  could 
not  help,  he  busied  himself  about  everything;  now 
that  he  knows  something  and  is  strong  enough,  he  does 
not  want  to  do  anything"  ? 

Just  so!  In  accordance  with  the  nature  of  the 
spiritual  principle  working  in  man,  as  yet  unconscious- 
ly and  unrecognized,  the  first  utterances  of  the  instinct 
of  activity,  of  the  formative  instinct,  come  without  any 
effort  on  his  part,  and  even  against  his  will,  as  indeed 
happens  to  him  even  in  later  life.  I^ow,  if  this  inner 
impulse  to  formative  activity  in  man,  particularly  in 
early  youth,  is  met  by  an  external  obstacle,  especially 
by  one  like  the  will  of  parents,  which  can  not  be  set 
aside,  the  inner  power  itself  is  weakened,  and  a  fre- 
quent repetition  of  this  forces  it  back  into  complete 
inactivity. 

When  the  child  has  been  thus  disturbed,  he  does 
not  consider  why  his  help  was  permissible  at  one  time 
and  not  at  another  time ;  he  chooses  that  which  is  more 
agreeable  to  his  physical  nature.  He  abstains  from  the 
activity  the  more  readily  and  willingly,  because  the  will 
of  his  parents  seems  to  make  it  his  duty  to  do  so. 

^  The  child  becomes  indolent — i.  e.,  spirit  and  life 
cease  to  animate  his  physical  being ;  the  latter  becomes 
a  mere  body  to  him,  which  now  he  must  carry  as  a  bur- 
den ;  whereas,  formerly,  the  sense  of  power  led  him  to 

.  feel  his  body,  not  as  such,  but  as  the  mighty  source  of 
the  power  that  filled  him. 

Therefore,  O  parents,  if  you  wish  your  children 
eventually  to  help  you,  foster  in  them  at  an  early  pe- 
riod the  instinct  of  activity,  and  especially  the  forma- 
tive instinct  of  boyhood,  even  though  it  should  involve 


THE  BOYHOO);)   OF  ;>I'AN^     .  ;   ;,  ;,/  ^^iir^J, 

some  effort,  some  sacrifice  on  your  part.  It  will  re- 
pay a  hundred-fold,  as  does  good  wheat  planted  in 
good  soil. 

[Here,  as  elsewhere,  Froebel  places  himself  broadly  on  the 
thought  that  in  the  order  of  development,  the  lower  is  the  neces- 
sary condition  of  the  higher,  and  owes  its  value  to  the  higher. 
Later  on,  this  will  be  shown  in  his  presentation  of  the  development 
of  conscious  spontaneity  from  the  mere  energy  as  seen  in  the  crys- 
tal. For  the  same  reason  he  asks  us  here  to  foster  this,  as  yet  com- 
paratively simple  instinct,  of  more  or  less  purposeless  activity,  which 
appears  almost  like  a  reflex  effect  of  the  impressions  that  crowd  in 
upon  the  child.  He  sees  in  this  activity  the  germ  and  promise  of 
higher  developments,  of  the  highest  differentiations  of  conscious 
purpose.  Similarly,  he  would  lead  the  child  from  apparently  pur- 
poseless and  frivolous  play  to  the  teeming  fields  of  earnest  labor ; 
not  by  contemning  play  but  by  fostering  it,  and  by  directing  it  in 
its  legitimate  channels. — Tr.] 

Strengthen  and  develop  this  instinct ;  give  to  your 
child  the  highest  he  now  needs ;  permit  him  to  add  his 
power  to  your  work — specially  dear  to  him  because  it 
is  yours — so  tha^  he  may  not  only  gain  the  consciousness 
of  his  power,  but  learn  to  appreciate  its  limitations. 

If  in  his  former  activity  (in  childhood)  he  imitated 
phases  of  domestic  life,  in  his  present  activity  (in  boy- 
hood) he  shares  the  work  of  the  house — lifting,  pulling, 
carrying,  digging,  splitting.  The  boy  wants  to  try  his 
strength  in  everything,  so  that  his  body  may  grow 
strong,  that  his  strength  may  increase,  and  that  he  may 
know  its  measure.  The  son  accompanies  his  father 
everywhere — to  the  field  and  to  the  garden,  to  the  shop 
and  to  the  counting-house,  to  the  forest  and  to  the 
meadow ;  in  the  care  of  domestic  animals  and  in  the 
making  of  small  articles  of  houseliold  furniture ;  in  the 
splitting,  sawing,  and  the  piling  up  of  wood ;  in  all  the 


103  J  J  /  c  V :{}'  .T  jiE :  lyjuc  AjioN  of  man. 

work  his  father's  trade  or  calling  involves.  Question 
'upon  question  comes  from  the  lips  of  the  boy  thirsting 
.for  knowledge— How?  Why?  When?  What  for?  Of 
what?— and  every  somewhat  satisfactory  answer  opens 
a  new  world  to  the  boy.  Language  comes  to  him  every- 
where, in  its  independence,  as  a  mediator.* 

At  this  age  the  healthy  boy,  brought  up  simply  and 
naturally,  never  evades  an  obstacle,  a  difficulty ;  nay,  he 
seeks  it,  and  overcomes  it. 

"  Let  it  lie,"  the  vigorous  youngster  exclaims  to  his 
father,  who  is  about  to  roll  a  piece  of  wood  out  of  the 
boy's  way — "  let  it  lie,  I  can  get  over  it."  With  diffi- 
culty, indeed,  the  boy  gets  over  it  the  first  time  ;  but  he 
has  accomplished  the  feat  by  his  own  strength.  Strength 
and  courage  have  grown  in  him.  He  returns,  gets  over 
the  obstacle  a  second  time,  and  soon  he  learns  to  clear 
it  easily.  If  activity  brought  joy  to  the  child,  work  now 
gives  delight  to  the  boy.  Hence,  the  daring  and  vent- 
uresome feats  of  boyhood ;  the  explorations  of  caves 
and  ravines ;  the  climbing  of  trees  and  mountains ; 
the  searching  of  the  heights  and  depths  ;  the  roaming 
through  fields  and  forests. 

The  most  difficult  thing  seems  easy,  the  most  daring 
thing  seems  without  danger  to  him,  for  his  promptings 
come  from  his  innermost  heart  and  will. 

However,  it  is  not  alone  the  desire  to  try  smd  use 
his  power  that  prompts  the  boy  at  this  age  to  seek  ad- 
venture high  and  low,  far  and  wide ;  it  is  particularly 
the  peculiarity  and  need  of  his  unfolding  innermost 
life,  the  desire  to  control  the  diversity  of  things,  to  see 

*  As  a  mediator  between  him  and  the  outer  world,  bringing  him  the 
knowledge  for  which  he  thirsts. — Tr. 


THE  BOYHOOD   OF  MAN.  103 

individual  things  in  their  connection  with  a  whole,  es- 
pecially to  bring  near  that  which  is  remote,  to  compre- 
hend (the  outer  world)  in  its  extent,  its  diversity,  its 
integrity;  it  is  the  desire  to  extend  his  scope  step 
by  step. 

To  climb  a  new  tree  means  to  the  boy  the  discovery 
of  a  new  world.  The  outlook  from  above  shows  every- 
thing so  different  from  the  ordinary  cramped  and  dis- 
torted side-view.  How  clear  and  distinct  everything  lies 
beneath  him !  Could  we  but  recall  the  feelings  that 
filled  our  hearts  and  souls  in  boyhood,  when  the  narrow 
limits  of  our  surroundings  sank  before  our  extended 
view,  we  should  not  cry  out  to  him :  "  Come  down ;  you 
might  fall!" 

Not  by  walking  and  standing  alone,  do  we  learn  to 
walk  and  stand.  Kot  by  walking  and  standing,  sitting 
and  crawling,  do  we  learn  to  keep  from  falling ;  the 
survey  of  our  surroundings,  too,  is  needed.  And  how 
different  does  the  commonest  thing  look  when  viewed 
from  above ! 

[More  clearly  than  in  any  other  passage,  Froebel  here  indicates 
his  position  with  reference  to  the  much-abused  maxim,  "  Learn  to  do 
by  doing,''  which  has  sometimes  been  attributed  to  him  by  well-mean- 
ing but  ill-informed  persons.  Froebel,  it  is  true,  would  have  skill  in 
action  imparted  by  practice ;  but  he  never  makes  skill  as  such  an 
object  of  educational  activity,  deeming  it  of  value  only  when  it 
serves  insight,  which  can  come  only  from  seeing.  He  would,  indeed, 
have  doing,  but  always  as  the  expression  of  thought  and  feeling, 
which,  again,  are  based  on  previous  seeing.  In  this  respect  Froebel 
is  a  more  faithful  follower  of  Comenius  than  those  over-zealous  per- 
sons who  seem  to  have  caught  nothing  from  the  great  Moravian 
teacher  than  this  maxim,  "  Learn  to  do  by  doing."  Comenius  him- 
self applies  the  saying  only  to  the  arts  of  the  school — such  as  writ- 
ing, speaking  (or  reading),  singing,  and  ciphering — and  treats  of  it 


104  THE  EDUCATION  OF   MAN. 

in  a  chapter  subordinate  to  the  "  Method  of  the  Sciences  "  which,  as 
he  says,  need  "  the  eye,  the  object,  and  light.' 

This  is  not  vitiated  by  the  fact  that  "  every  science  is  evolved  out 
of  its  corresponding  art."  An  art  is  a  complex  empirical  organism, 
involving  the  co-operation  of  more  or  less  extended  systems  of  vari- 
ously inter-related  seeing  and  doing.  The  corresponding  science 
grows  in  the  measure  in  which  we  learn  to  see  it  as  a  living,  ration- 
ally constituted  whole. — Tr.] 

Should  it  not  be  our  duty  and  our  work  to  secure 
for  our  boy  at  an  early  period  this  elevation  of  mind 
and  heart  ?  Shall  he  not  from  a  lofty  standpoint  clear 
his  understanding,  and  expand  heart  and  mind  by  ex- 
tending his  view  into  the  distance  ? 

"  But,"  you  object,  "  the  boy  will  become  reckless ; 
I  am  never  free  from  anxiety  about  him."  The  boy, 
who  from  early  youth  has  been  led  quietly  and  with 
reference  to  the  steady  development  of  his  power,  will 
never  task  his  strength  much  more  than  his  previous 
trials  justify.  Thus  he  passes  through  all  these  dangers 
like  one  led  by  a  good  genius ;  while  another  boy,  who 
knows  neither  his  strength  nor  the  difficulty  of  his  task, 
attempts  to  do  what  his  little  skill  and  strength  do 
not  warrant  him  to  undertake,  and  thus  incurs  danger 
where  even  the  most  timid  would  deem  himself  safe. 

Indeed,  the  most  really  venturesome  boys  are  always 
those  who,  without  steadily  practiced  strength,  are 
taken  with  a  sudden  fit  of  power,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  are  offered  an  opportunity  for  its  use.  They  will 
then,  particularly  if  others  observe  them,  easily  get  into 
danger. 

Not  less  significant  and  developing  is  the  boy's  in- 
clination to  descend  into  caves  and  ravines,  to  ramble  in 
the  shady  grove  and  in  the  dark  forest.     It  is  the  de- 


THE  BOYHOOD  OF  MAN.  105 

sire  to  seek  and  find  the  new,  to  see  and  discover  the 
hidden ;  the  desire  to  bring  to  hght  and  to  appropriate 
that  which  lies  concealed  in  darkness  and  shadow. 

From  these  rambles  the  boy  returns  with  rich  treas- 
ures  of  unknown  stones  and  plants,  of  animals — worms, 
beetles,  spiders,  and  lizards — that  dwell  in  darkness 
and  concealment.  "  What  is  this  ?  what  is  its  name  ? " 
etc.,  are  the  questions  to  be  answered ;  and  every  new 
word  enriches  his  world,  and  throws  light  upon  his  sur- 
roundings. Beware  of  greeting  the  boy  with  the  excla- 
mation, ''  Fie,  throw  that  down ;  that  is  horrid ! "  or 
"  Drop  that,  it  will  bite  you !  "  If  the  child  obeys,  he 
drops  and  throws  away  also  a  considerable  portion  of 
his  power ;  and,  when  later  on  you  say  to  him,  or  when 
common  sense  and  reason  tell  him,  "  See,  this  is  a  harm- 
less creature,"  he  will  avert  his  eyes,  and  a  great  amount 
of  knowledge  will  be  lost  at  the  same  time.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  little  boy,  scarcely  six  years  old,  may 
tell  you  about  the  structure  of  the  beetle  and  about  the 
peculiar  uses  it  makes  of  its  limbs ;  things  that  hereto- 
fore had  remained  unnoticed  by  you.  It  may  be  well 
to  caution  him  about  taking  hold  of  unknown  creatures, 
but  not  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  him  timid. 

However,  the  genuine,  vigorous  boy  at  this  age  is  by 
no  means  always  on  the  heights  or  in  the  depths.  The 
same  desire  that  urges  him  to  seek  knowledge  and  in- 
sight on  the  mountains  and  in  the  valleys,  attracts  and 
holds  him  also  to  the  plain.  Here  he  makes  a  little 
garden  under  the  hedge  near  the  fence  of  his  father's 
garden ;  there  he  represents  the  course  of  the  river  in 
his  furrow  and  in  his  ditch ;  there  he  studies  the  effects 
of  the  fall  or  pressure  of  water  upon  his  little  water- 


106  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

wheel ;  here  he  observes  a  small  piece  of  wood  or  a  bit 
of  light  bark  floating  on  a  little  pond  he  has  dammed 
Tip.  He  is  particularly  fond  of  occupying  himself  with 
the  clear,  living,  mobile  water  in  which  the  boy  who 
seeks  self-knowledge  beholds  the  image  of  his  soul  as  in 
a  mirror.  For  the  same  reason  he  is  fond  of  busying 
himself  with  plastic  substances  (sand,  clay),  which  to 
him  are,  as  it  were,  a  life-element.  For  he  seeks  now, 
impelled  by  the  previously  acquired  sense  of  his  power, 
to  master  the  material,  to  control  it.  Everything  must 
submit  to  his  formative  instinct ;  there  in  the  heap  of 
earth  he  builds  a  cellar,  a  cavern,  and  on  it  a  garden,  a 
bench. 

Boards,  branches  of  trees,  laths,  and  poles  are  made 
into  a  hut,  a  house ;  the  deep,  fresh  snow  is  fashioned 
into  the  walls  and  ramparts  of  a  fortress ;  and  the  rough 
stones  on  the  hill  are  heaped  together  to  make  a  castle : 
all  this  is  done  in  the  spirit  and  tendency  of  boyhood, 
in  the  spirit  and  tendency  of  unification  and  assimila- 
tion (see  §  94). 

There  two  boys,  scarcely  seven  years  old,  with 
their  arms  around  each  other,  walk  across  the  yard  in 
friendly,  intimate  consultation ;  they  are  on  the  way  to 
get  tools  in  order  to  build  in  a  dark  grove,  on  the  hill 
behind  the  house,  a  hut  witli  a  table  and  bench,  an  out- 
look from  which  their  eyes  can  take  in  the  whole  valley 
at  one  glance,  as  a  beautifully  organized  whole. 

This  unifying  and,  at  the  same  time,  self-reliant 
spirit  unites  all  things  that  come  near  and  seem  adapt- 
ed to  its  nature,  its  wants,  and  inner  status — unites 
stones  and  human  beings  in  a  common  purpose,  a  com- 
mon endeavor.    And  thus  each  one  soon  forms  for  him- 


THE  BOYHOOD   OF   MAN.  107 

self  his  own  world ;  for  the  feeling  of  his  own  power 
implies  and  soon  demands  also  the  possession  of  his 
own  space  and  his  oion  material  belonging  exclasive- 
Ij  to  him. 

Be  his  realm,  his  province,  his  land,  as  it  were,  a 
corner  of  the  court-yard,  of  the  house,  or  of  the  room ; 
be  it  the  space  of  a  box,  of  a  chest,  or  of  a  closet ;  be  it 
a  grotto,  a  hut,  or  a  garden — the  human  being,  the  boy 
at  this  age,  needs  an  external  point,  if  possible,  chosen 
and  prepared  by  himself,  to  which  he  refers  all  his  ac- 
tivity. 

When  the  room  to  be  filled  is  extensive,  when  the 
realm  to  be  controlled  is  large,  when  the  whole  to  be 
represented  or  produced  is  complex,  then  brotherly 
union  of  similar-minded  persons  is  in  place.  And 
when  similar-minded  persons  meet  in  similar  endeavor, 
and  their  hearts  find  each  other,  then  either  the  work 
already  begun  is  extended,  or  the  work  begun  by  one 
becomes  a  common  w^ork. 

[In  this  and  the  following  passages  Froebel  foreshadows  the 
kindergarten,  which  he  meant  to  be  jpar  excellence  the  social  nursery 
of  the  child — a  place  where  the  children's  faculties  might  be  directed 
without  violence  into  social  channels.  In  the  educational  practice 
of  home  and  school  this  phase  of  child-nature  is  almost  wholly  ig- 
nored, and  not  unf  requently  suppressed  as  detrimental  to  the  child's 
individual  welfare.  To  the  mother  the  child  is  lier  child,  to  the 
school  it  is  a  child. 

Perhaps  this  is  well,  so  far  as  the  mother  is  concerned,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  her  special  province  to  nurse  the  earliest  germ  of  individual 
development  which  underlies  the  future  social  worth  of  the  child, 
and  inasmuch  as  the  home  rarely  offers  suitable  conditions  to  train 
the  child  for  life  in  a  society  of  equals.  With  the  school,  however, 
this  is  different;  here  all  the  elements  of  a  society  of  equals  are 
given,  opportunities  for  common  enterprise  are  so  abundant  that 
isolation  becomes  a  matter  of  great  difficulty.    Here,  then,  it  would 


108  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

be  easy  to  establish  an  atmosphere  of  universal  good-will;  to  de- 
velop and  foster  habits  of  sympathy,  gratitude,  and  helpfulness ; 
to  have  the  pupil  grow  surely  and  steadily  into  ever  fuller  appre- 
ciation of  the  value  of  social  effort  to  himself,  and  of  his  own  value 
to  society ;  to  fill  the  soul  of  each  one  brimful  of  a  generous  self- 
assertion  and  a  rational  self-sacrifice  that  shrink  from  no  duty  and 
yield  no  right. 

In  the  kindergarten  Froebel  has  provided  an  ideal  society  of 
equals  which  the  child  may  enter  at  the  very  moment  when  his  social 
instincts  enter  consciousness.  The  school  would  gain  in  every  phase 
of  its  work,  could  it  connect  itself  organically  with  the  kindergarten 
and  become  an  institution  where  the  future  men  and  women  might 
learn  the  arts  of  co-ordination  and  subordination,  of  creative  and 
directive  leadership,  of  intelligent  and  cheerful  helpfulness  in  the 
attainment  of  common  purposes.  Thus  the  school  would  strengthen 
the  pupil's  individuality,  invigorate  it  through  exercise,  lead  it  to 
ever  greater  self -consciousness  in  practice,  elevate  his  drift  and  char- 
acter by  giving  him  a  tendency  to  seek  worthy  objects  for  a  generous 
activity,  enable  him  to  become  a  leader  in  matters  in  which  he  has 
the  stuff  for  leadership,  and  a  contented  follower  in  all  affairs  in 
which  his  powers  assign  him  a  humbler  station. —  Tr.] 

Would  you,  O  parents  and  educators,  see  in  minia- 
ture, in  a  picture,  as  it  were,  what  I  have  here  indicated, 
look  into  this  education-room  *  of  eight  bojs,  seven  to 
eight  years  old. 

On  the  large  table  of  the  much-used  room  there 
stands  a  chest  of  building-blocks,  in  the  form  of  bricks, 
each  side  about  one  sixth  of  the  size  of  actual  bricks, 
the  finest  and  most  variable  material  that  can  be  offered 
a  boy  for  purposes  of  representation.  Sand  or  sawdust, 
too,  have  found  their  way  into  the  room,  and  fine,  green 
moss  has  been  brought  in  abundantly  from  the  last  walk 
in  the  beautiful  pine-forest. 

*  A  word  formed  in  imitation  of  the  word  school-room,  to  indicate 
the  wider  scope  of  the  place.  —  Tr, 


THE   BOYHOOD   OF  MAN.  109 

[This  is  the  first  foreshadowing  of  what  has  since  in  the  kinder- 
garten been  developed  into  groii^-work.  In  group- work  several  chil- 
dren, or  the  whole  little  society,  unite  their  skill  and  energy  in  the  use 
of  the  gifts  and  occupations  for  a  common  purpose.  This  purpose  may 
lie  within  the  limits  of  a  single  gift  or  occupation,  or  it  may  require  a 
variety  of  these.  A  few  instances  will  illustrate  this :  The  group- 
work  remains  within  the  limits  of  a  single  gift  or  occupation  when 
the  children  use  the  folding  papers  as  paving-stones  in  building  a 
sidewalk,  when  they  use  their  third  gifts  in  representing  a  farm-yard 
with  its  buildings  and  implements,  when  they  combine  to  build  a 
street  railroad  with  the  help  of  the  fourth  gift,  when  two  children 
fold  a  dwelling-house  from  a  large  sheet  of  cardboard,  while  the 
others  are  busy  folding  from  smaller  sheets  of  paper  all  kinds  of  fur- 
niture— tables,  chairs,  sofas,  beds,  writing-desk,  picture-frames,  look- 
ing-glasses, etc. 

Here  the  individuality  of  each  child  has  full  play,  and  ^yet  is  ex- 
ercised in  the  service  of  a  common  purpose,  subordinating  itself  to 
the  claims  and  needs  of  the  little  society  with  no  loss  and  much 
gain.  This  becomes  still  more  evident  when  a  variety  of  gifts  and 
occupations  are  brought  into  play.  Here  is  an  instance :  In  one 
corner  of  a  suitably  prepared  "  sand-table  "  a  few  handfuls  of  sand 
are  spread  to  receive  yellow  folding-papers,  cut  and  rolled  so  as  to 
represent  a  wheat-field;  behind  this  a  few  children  build  a  small 
village,  from  the  fifth  and  sixth  gifts ;  others  erect  near  the  center 
of  the  table  a  large  mill,  with  the  necessary  out-houses ;  still  others 
build  a  road,  a  brook,  a  bridge,  with  suitable  material ;  a  few  boys 
are  busy  making  bags  of  flour  out  of  clay ;  two  girls  are  constructing 
a  wagon  out  of  sticks,  peas,  and  interlacing  material.  Thus  all  unite 
to  express  what  they  know  about  the  history  of  wheat. 

In  the  primary  school  it  becomes  desirable  to  develop  these  social 
tendencies  methodically  and  in  harmony  with  individual  develop- 
ment. This  is  accomplished  with  the  help  of  my  group-table,  first 
systematically  used  at  La  Porte  (Indiana).  The  table  is  similar  to 
the  ordinary  kindergarten-table,  but  in  the  shape  of  a  square  or 
hexagon,  and  of  a  size  to  accommodate  four  or  six  children,  one 
at  each  side  of  the  table.  When  the  children  work  at  this  table 
with  any  given  material,  at  respectively  equal  distances  from  the 
center  or  margin,  the  work  will  be  strictly  symmetrical  and  definitely 
related  to  the  sides  and  angles,  diagonals  and  diameters  of  the  table- 
top.    This  symmetrical  arrangement  serves  as  a  powerful  connecting 


110  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

link  among  the  individual  workers.  They  soon  learn  to  contribute 
their  material  and  energy  to  the  execution  of  social  purposes  with 
little  or  no  thought  of  individual  gain,  and  still  less  of  individual 
supremacy. — Tr.] 

It  is  intermission,  and  eacli  one  has  begun  "his  own 
work.  There  in  a  corner  stands  a  chapel  quite  concealed, 
a  cross  and  an  altar  indicate  the  meaning  of  the  struct- 
ure :  it  is  the  creation  of  a  small,  quiet  boy.  There  on  a 
chair  two  boys  have  united  to  undertake  a  considerably 
greater  piece  of  work  :  it  is  a  building  of  several  stories, 
and  probably  represents  a  castle,  which  looks  down 
from  the  chair  as  from  a  mountain  into  a  valley.  But 
what  has  quietly  grown  under  the  hands  of  that  boy  at 
the  table  ?  It  is  a  green  hill  crowned  by  an  old,  ruined 
castle.  The  others,  in  the  mean  while,  have  erected  a 
village  in  the  plain  below. 

•  Now,  each  one  has  finished  his  work ;  each  one  ex- 
amines it  and  that  of  the  others.  In  each  one  rises  the 
thought  and  the  wish  to  unite  all  in  a  connected  whole  ; 
and  scarcely  has  this  wish  been  recognized  as  a  com- 
mon one,  when  they  establish  common  roads  from  the 
village  to  the  ruin,  from  this  to  the  castle,  and  from  the 
castle  to  the  chapel,  and  between  them  lie  brooks  and 
meadows. 

At  another  time  some  had  fashioned  a  landscape 
from  clay,  another  had  constructed  from  pasteboard  a 
house  with  doors  and  windows,  and  a  third  had  made 
miniature  ships  from  nut-shells.  Each  one  examines  his 
work :  it  is  good,  but  it  stands  alone.  He  sees  his  neigh- 
bor's work :  it  would  gain  so  much  by  being  united. 
And  immediately  the  house,  as  a  castle,  crowns  the  hill, 
and  the  tiny  ship  floats  on  the  small  artiiicial  lake,  and, 


THE  BOYHOOD   OF   MAN.  HI 

to  the  delight  of  all,  the  youngest  bi'ings  his  shepherd 
and  sheep  to  graze  between  the  mountain  and  the  lake. 
Now,  they  all  stand  and  behold  with  pleasure  and  satis- 
faction the  work  of  their  own  hands. 

Again,  what  busy  tumult  among  those  older  boys  at 
the  brook  down  yonder  !  They  have  built  canals  and 
sluices,  bridges  and  sea-ports,  dams  and  mills,  each  one 
intent  only  on  his  own  work.  Now  the  water  is  to  be 
used  to  carry  vessels  from  the  higher  to  the  lower 
level ;  but  at  each  step  of  progress  one  trespasses  on  the 
limits  of  another  realm,  and  each  one  equally  claims  his 
right  as  lord  and  maker,  while  he  recognizes  the  claims 
of  the  others.  What  can  serve  here  to  mediate  ?  Only 
treaties^  and,  like  states,  they  bind  themselves  by  strict 
treaties.  Who  can  point  out  the  varied  significance,  the 
varied  results  of  these  plays  of  boys  ?  Two  things,  in- 
deed, are  clearly  established.  They  proceed  from  one 
and  the  same  spirit  of  boyhood ;  and  the  playing  boys 
made  good  pupils,  intelligent,  and  quick  to  learn,  quick 
to  see  and  to  do,  diligent  and  full  of  zeal,  reliable  in 
thought  and  feeling,  efficient  and  vigorous.  Those  i 
who  played  thus  are  efficient  men,  or  will  become  so. 

Particularly  helpful  at  this  period  of  life  is  the  cul- 
tivation of  gardens  owned  by  the  boys,  and  their  culti- 
vation for  the  sake  of  the  produce.  For  here  man  for 
the  first  time  sees  his  work  bearing  fruit  in  an  organic 
way,  determined  by  logical  necessity  and  law — fruit 
which,  although  subject  to  the  inner  laws  of  natural  de- 
velopment, depends  in  many  ways  upon  his  work  and 
upon  the  character  of  his  work  ! 

This  work  fully  completes,  in  many  ways,  the  boy's 
life  with  nature,  and  satisfies  his  curiosity  concerning 


112  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

her  workings,  his  desire  to  know  her — a  desire  that  urges 
him  again  and  again  to  give  thoughtful  and  continuous 
attention  and  observation  to  plants  and  flowers.  [Nature, 
too,  seems  to  favor  these  promptings  and  occupations, 
and  to  reward  them  with  abundant  success  ;  for  a  glance 
upon  these  gardens  of  children  reveals  at  once  the  fact 
that,  if  a  boy  has  given  his  plants  only  moderate  care 
and  attention,  they  thrive  remarkably  well;  and  that 
the  plants  and  flowers  of  the  boys  who  attend  to  them 
with  special  care  live  in  sympathy  with  these  boys, 
as  it  were,  and  are  particularly  healthy  and  luxuriant. 

V  If  the  boy  can  not  have  the  care  of  a  httle  garden  of 
his  own,  he  should  have  at  least  a  few  plants  in  boxes 
or  pots,  filled  not  with  rare  and  delicate  or  double 
plants,  but  with  common  plants  that  have  an  abundance 
of  leaves  and  blossoms,  and  thrive  easily. 

4[^  The  child,  or  boy,  who  has  guarded  and  cared  for 
another  living  thing,  although  it  be  of  a  lower  order, 
will  be  led  more  easily  to  guard  and  foster  his  own  life.  ^ 
At  the  same  time  the  care  of  plants  will  gratify  his 
desire  to  observe  other  living  things,  such  as  beetles, 
butterflies,  and  birds,  for  these  seek  the  vicinity  of 
plants. 

By  no  means,  however,  do  all  the  plays  and  occupa- 
tions of  boys  at  this  age  aim  at  tlie  representation  of 
things ;  on  the  contrary,  many  are  predominantly  mere 
practice  and  trials  of  strength,  and  many  aim  simply 
at  display  of  strength.  ^Nevertheless,  the  play  of  this 
period  always  bears  a  peculiar  character,  corresponding 
with  its  inner  life.  For,  while  during  the  previous  pe- 
riod of  childliood  the  aim  of  play  consisted  simply  in 
activity  as  such,  its  aim  lies  now  in  a  definite,  consdous 


THE  BOYHOOD  OF  MAN.  113 

purpose;  it  seeks  representation  as  such,  or  the  thing 
to  be  represented  in  tlie  activity.  This  character  is 
developed  more  and  more  in  the  free  boyish  games  as 
the  boys  advance  in  age.  This  is  observable  even  with 
all  games  of  physical  movement,  with  games  of  running, 
boxing,  wrestling,  with  ball-games,  racing,  games  of 
hunting,  of  war,  etc.  (see  §  30). 

It  is  the  sense  of  sure  and  reliable  power,  the  sense 
of  its  increase,  both  as  an  individual  and  as  a  member 
of  the  group,  that  fills  the  boy  with  all-pervading,  ju- 
bilant joy  during  these  games.  It  is  by  no  means,  how- 
ever, only  the  physical  power  that  is  fed  and  strength- 
ened in  these  games ;  intellectual  and  moral  power,  too, 
is  definitely  and  steadily  gained  and  brought  under 
control.  Indeed,  a  comparison  of  the  relative  gains 
of  the  mental  and  of  the  physical  phases  would  scarce- 
ly yield  the  palm  to  the  body.  Justice,  moderation, 
self-control,  truthfulness,  loyalty,  brotherly  love,  and, 
again,  strict  impartiality — who,  when  he  approaches  a 
group  of  boys  engaged  in  such  games,  could  fail  to 
catch  the  fragrance  of  these  delicious  blossomings  of  the 
heart  and  mind,  and  of  a  firm  will ;  not  to  mention  the 
beautiful,  though  perhaps  less  fragrant,  blossoms  of  cour- 
age, perseverance,  resolution,  prudence,  together  with 
the  severe  elimination  of  indolent  indulgence  ?  Who- 
ever would  inhale  a  fresh,  quickening  breath  of  life 
should  visit  the  play-grounds  of  such  boys.  Flowers  of 
still  more  delicate  fragrance  bloom,  and  the  spirited, 
free  boy  spares  them  as  the  spirited  horse  spares  the 
child  that  lies  in  the  path  of  his  dashing  career.  These 
delicate  blossoms,  resembling  the  violet  and  anemone, 
are  forbearance,  consideration,  sympathy,  and  encourage- 


114  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

ment  for  the  weaker,  younger,  and  more  delicate ;  fair- 
ness to  those  who  are  as  yet  unfamiliar  with  the  game. 

Would  that  all  who,  in  the  education  of  boys,  bare- 
ly tolerate  play-grounds,  might  consider  these  things ! 
There  are,  indeed,  many  harsh  words  and  many  rude 
deeds,  but  the  sense  of  power  must  needs  precede  its 
cultivation.  Keen,  clear,  and  penetrating  are  the  boy's 
eye  and  sense  in  the  recognition  of  inner  meaning ;  keen 
and  decided,  therefore,  even  harsh  and  severe,  is  his 
judgment  of  those  who  are  his  equals,  or  who  claim 
equality  with  him  in  judgment  and  power. 

Every  town  should  have  its  own  common  play- 
ground for  the  boys.  Glorious  results  would  come  from 
this  for  the  entire  community.  For  at  this  period 
games,  whenever  it  is  feasible,  are  common,  and  thus 
develop  the  feeling  and  desire  for  community,  and  the 
laws  and  requirements  of  community. 

The  boy  tries  to  see  himself  in  his  companions,  to 
feel  himself  in  them,  to  weigh  and  measure  himself  by 
them,  to  know  and  find  himself  with  their  help.  Thus, 
the  games  directly  influence  and  educate  the  boy  for 
life,  awaken  and  cultivate  many  civil  and  moral  virtues. 

Yet  the  seasons  and  surroundings  do  not  always 
permit  the  boy,  free  from  the  duties  of  home  and 
school,  to  exercise  and  develop  his  powers  in  the  open 
air,  and  at  no  time  should  boys  be  unoccupied.  There- 
fore other  kinds  of  external  occupations  and  representa- 
tions of  in-door  life  constitute  at  this  age  an  essential 
part  of  the  activity  and  guidance  of  boys,  and  are  very 
important  to  him.  This  is  particularly  the  case  with 
so-called  mechanical  pursuits,  such  as  paper  and  paste- 
board work,  modeling,  etc.  (see  §  22). 


THE  BOYHOOD   OF   MAN.  115 

However,  there  is  in  man  still  another  wish — a  long- 
ing, a  desire  of  the  soul  that  can  not  be  gratified  by  ex- 
ternal occupations,  by  external  activity.  All  that  exter- 
nal occupation  and  activity  can  give  man  at  this  period 
does  not  by  any  means  suffice  him,  does  not  meet  the 
demands  and  needs  of  an  education  adequate  to  his 
nature  :  the  present,  however  full  and  rich,  can  not 
suffice  him. 

The  existence  of  the  present  teaches  him  the  exist- 
ence of  the  past.  This,  too,  which  was  before  he  was, 
he  would  know.  He  would  know  the  reason,  the  past 
cause  of  what  now  is.  Indeed,  he  would  that  what  has 
remained  over  from  past  time  should  reveal  to  him  the 
reason  of  its  existence,  should  tell  him  of  that  old  time. 

Who  fails  to  remember  the  keen  desire  that  filled 
his  heart,  more  particularly  in  the  period  of  his  later 
years  of  boyhood,  when  he  beheld  old  walls  and  towers, 
ruins,  old  buildings,  monuments,  and  columns  on  the 
hills  and  on  the  road-side — to  hear  others  give  accounts 
of  these  things,  of  their  time  and  their  causes  ?  Nay, 
who  has  not  at  such  times  noticed  in  himseK  a  vague, 
undefinable  feeling  that  at  some  time  these  things  them- 
selves could  and  would  give  an  account  of  themselves 
and  their  time  ? 

And  who,  judging  by  his  experience  and  knowl- 
edge, can  furnish  him  these  accounts,  if  not  those  who 
lived  before  he  did — his  elders  ?  That  these  might  tell 
him,  is  his  earnest  wish ;  and  thus  there  is  developed  in 
the  boy  at  this  age  the  desire  and  craving  for  tales,  for 
legends,  for  all  kinds  of  stories,  and  later  on  for  histori- 
cal accounts.  This  craving,  especially  in  its  first  appear- 
ance, is  very  intense ;  so  much  so,  that,  when  others  fail 


116  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

to  gratify  it,  the  boys  seek  to  gratify-  it  themselves, 
particularly  on  days  of  leisure,  and  in  times  when  the 
regular  employments  of  the  day  are  ended. 

Who  has  not  been  filled  with  respect  when  noticing 
a  group  of  boys  of  this  age  gathered  around  one  whom 
a  good  memory  and  a  lively  imagination  have  designated 
as  their  story-teller  ?  How  attentively  they  all  listen  when 
his  story  gratifies  their  favorite  wish  and  confirms  their 
judgment  by  its  plot  and  incidents — in  short,  when  it 
brings  before  them  words  and  deeds  in  harmony  with 
their  own  inner  thoughts  and  feehngs  ! 

However,  even  the  present  in  which  the  boy  lives 
still  contains  much  that  at  this  period  of  development 
he  can  not  interpret,  and  yet  would  like  to  interpret ; 
much  that  seems  to  him  dumb,  and  which  he  would  fain 
have  speak ;  much  that  appears  to  him  dead,  and  which 
he  longs  to  see  alive  and  active. 

He  wishes  that  others  might  furnish  him  this  inter- 
pretation, and  impart  a  language  to  the  silent  objects ; 
that  they  might  put  into  clear  words  the  inner  Mving 
connection  of  all  things  which  his  mind  vaguely  ap- 
prehends. 

Yet  these  others  frequently  are  quite  unable  to  grat- 
ify the  boy's  wish,  and  thus  there  is  developed  in  him 
the  intense  desire  for  fables  and  fairy-tales  which  impart 
language  and  reason  to  speechless  things — ^the  one  with- 
in, and  the  other  beyond  the  limits  of  human  relations 
and  human,  earthly  phenomena  of  life. 

Surely  all  must  have  noticed  this,  if  they  have  given 
more  than  superficial  attention  to  the  life  of  boys  at 
this  age.  Similarly,  they  must  have  noticed  that — if 
here,  too,  the  boy's  desire  is  not  or  can  not  be  gratified 


THE  BOYHOOD  OF  MAN.  117 

by  his  attendants — he  will  spontaneously  hit  upon  the 
invention  and  presentation  of  fairj-tales  and  fables,  and 
either  work  them  out  in  his  own  mind  alone  or  enter- 
tain his  companions  with  them. 

[One  of  the  most  difficult  arts  of  the  kindergartner  is  the  telling 
of  stories ;  and  it  is,  perhaps,  equally  difficult  to  give  detailed  direc- 
tions concerning  the  practice  of  this  art.  Yet  there  are  a  few  plain 
requirements  which  it  may  be  well  to  mention  here.  In  the  first 
place,  the  story  should  be  simple  in  plot  and  form ;  the  events  and 
words  should  be  few  and  marked,  and  within  the  child's  comprehen- 
sion. Involved  constructions,  long  words,  unmeaning  sentimentali- 
ties, and  confusing  moralizings  should  be  omitted. 

Again,  the  plot  should  be  true— i.  e.,  the  events  should  be  possible, 
and  should  have  some  logical  connection.  All  that  is  hideous  or 
vicious  should  be  kept  out.  Cruel  or  wanton  punishments  or  acci- 
dents and  ludicrous  situations  should  be  avoided:  they  blunt  or 
pervert  the  moral  sense  of  the  child.  The  story  should  take  the 
child  into  an  ideal  world  of  truth  and  beauty  and  goodness,  where  he 
may  always  rest  from  the  unpleasant  experiences  and  gather  strength 
from  the  struggle  with  their  opposites  in  life.  Here  he  should  learn 
to  love  truth  and  beauty  and  goodness,  so  that  when  their  opposites 
do  come  these  may  find  no  points  of  attraction  in  the  child's  soul. 
The  stories,  too,  should  be  such  that  the  child  may  easily  imitate 
them  by  drawing  on  his  slender  stock  of  experiences,  and  by  enliven- 
ing these  with  his  ideals  of  whatever  is  lovely  and  good. — Tr.] 

These  fairy-tales  and  stories  will  then  very  clearly 
reveal  to  the  observer  what  is  going  on  in  the  innermost 
mind  of  the  boy,  though  doubtless  the  latter  may  not  be 
himself  conscious  of  it  (see  §  97).  Whatever  he  feels  in 
his  heart,  whatever  lives  in  his  soul,  whatever  he  can  not 
express  in  his  own  words,  he  would  fain  have  others 
express.  Whatever  his  mind  vaguely  apprehends,  what- 
ever fills  his  heart  with  joy  and  pleasure,  as  the  sense  of 
power  and  the  feeling  of  spring,  he  would  fain  express 
in  words;  but  he  feels  himself  unable  to  do  so.  He 
10 


118  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

seeks  for  words,  and,  as  lie  can  not  jet  find  them  in 
himself,  he  rejoices  intensely  to  hear  them  from  others, 
especially  in  song. 

How  the  serene,  happy  boy  of  this  age  rejoices  in 
song !  He  feels,  as  it  were,  a  new,  true  life  in  song. 
It  is  the  sense  of  growing  power  that  in  his  wander- 
ings from  the  valley  to  the  hill,  and  from  hill  to  hill, 
pours  forth  the  joyous  song  from  his  throat. 

The  intense  desire  to  understand  himself  holds  the 
boy ;  therefore  he  seeks  the  clear,  pure,  living  water  in 
lake  or  brook.  In  his  play  he  ever  returns  to  this,  be- 
cause in  it  he  sees  himself,  the  image  of  his  soul,  and 
because  in  and  through  it  he  hopes  to  get  a  knowledge 
of  his  spiritual  nature. 

What  the  water  in  brook  and  lake,  what  the  pure  air 
and  wide  expanse  on  the  mountain-top  are  to  the  boy's 
soul,  that,  too,  play  is  to  him — a  mirror  of  the  life-strug- 
gles that  await  him ;  therefore,  in  order  to  gain  strength 
for  these,  boys  and  youth  seek  obstacles,  difficulties,  and 
strife  in  their  play. 

The  desire  to  gain  a  knowledge  of  the  past  and  of 
nature  attracts  the  boy  again  and  again  to  flowers  and  to 
old  walls  and  ruined  vaults.  The  desire  to  express  what 
fills  his  innermost  heart  and  mind  urges  him  to  sing. 
Thus  it  is  certain  that  very  many  of  the  external  phe- 
nomena, very  many  things  in  the  boy's  conduct  and  ac- 
tions, have  an  inner,  spiritual  significance ;  that  they 
indicate  his  inner,  spiritual  life  and  tendency,  and  are, 
therefore,  symbolic. 

How  salutary  would  it  be  for  parents  and  child, 
for  their  present  and  future,  if  parents  believed  in  this 
symbolism  of  childhood  and  boyhood,  if  they  heeded 


THE  BOYHOOD   OF  MAN.  119 

the  child's  life  in  reference  to  this !  It  would  unite 
parents  and  children  bj  a  new  living  tie ;  it  would  es- 
tablish a  new  living  connection  between  their  present 
and  their  future  life. 

§  50.  Such  is  pure  boy-Kfe  at  this  period.  From  this 
description  of  inner  and  outer  pure  boy-life  and  child- 
life,  which  fortunately  for  man  we  still  meet  occasion- 
ally— where  natural  views  of  education  prevail  in  actual 
life  possibly  in  greater  beauty,  richness,  and  intensity 
than  has  been  represented — from  this  description  let  us 
cast  a  glance  upon  boy-life  and  child-life  as  we  generally 
meet  it  more  or  less  pronounced  in  actual  life.  Let  us 
look  particularly  upon  the  life  of  the  child  and  boy  in 
his  filial,  brotherly,  domestic  relations,  in  his  activity 
and  work  as  a  pupil  and  companion.  We  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  confess  frankly  that  many  things  are  very  dif- 
ferent: that  we  meet  stubbornness,  obstinacy,  supine- 
ness,  mental  and  physical  indolence,  sensuality,  vanity 
and  self-conceit,  dogmatism  and  despotism,  an  unbroth- 
erly  and  unfilial  spirit,  emptiness  and  superficiality,  aver- 
sion to  work  and  even  to  play,  disobedience  and  ungod- 
liness, etc; 

When  we  look  for  the  sources  of  these  and  many 
other  undeniable  shortcomings  in  the  life  of  children 
and  boys,  we  are  confronted  ultimately  by  a  double 
reason :  in  the  first  place,  the  complete  neglect  of  the 
development  of  certain  sides  of  full  human  life ;  sec- 
ondly, the  early  faulty  tendency — the  early  faulty  and 
unnatural  steps  of  development  and  distortion  of  the 
originally  good  human  powers  and  tendencies  by  arbi- 
trary and  willful  interference  with  the  original  orderly 
and  logical  course  of  human  development. 


120  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

§  51.  For,  surely,  the  nature  of  man  is  in  itseK  good, 
and  surely  there  are  in  man  quahties  and  tendencies  in 
themselves  good.  Man  is  by  no  means  naturally  bad, 
nor  has  he  originally  bad  or  evil  qualities  and  tenden- 
cies ;  unless,  indeed,  we  consider  as  naturally  evil,  bad, 
and  faulty  the  Jmite,  the  material^  the  transitory,  the 
physical  as  such,  and  the  logical  consequences  of  the 
existence  of  these  phenomena,  namely,  that  man  must 
have  the  possibility  of  failure  in  order  to  be  good  and 
virtuous,  that  he  must  be  able  to  make  himself  a  slave 
in  order  to  be  truly  free.  Yet  these  things  are  the  neces- 
sary concomitants  of  the  manifestation  of  the  eternal 
in  the  temporal,  of  unity  in  diversity,  and  follow  neces- 
sarily from  man's  destiny  to  become  a  conscious,  reason- 
able, and  free  being. 

Whoever  is  to  do  with  self-determination  and  free- 
dom that  which  is  divine  and  eternal,  must  be  at  liberty 
to  do  that  which  is  earthly  and  finite. 

Since  God  wished  to  reveal  himself  in  the  finite,  this 
could  be  done  only  with  finite  and  transitory  material. 

Whoever,  then,  considers  that  which  is  finite,  mate- 
rial, physical,  as  in  itself  bad,  thereby  expresses  con- 
jtempt  for  creation,  nature,  as  such — ^nay,  he  actually 
jblasphemes  God. 

'       Similarly,  it  is  treason  to  human  nature  and  to  man 
to  consider  him  in  his  essence  as  neither  good  nor  badi 
or  evil ;  how  much  more,  then,  is  it  treason  to  considerS 
him  in  his  nature  as  essentially  bad  or  evil ! 
I        Man  thereby  denies  God  in  humanity,  for  he  denies 
His  work,   and  hence  the   ways  and  means  of  truly 
knowing  God,  and  thus  puts  into  the  world  falsehood, 
the  only  source  of  all  evil. 


THE   BOYHOOD  OF  MAN.  121 

§  52.  If  there  is  anytliing  absolutely  evil,  it  is  this, 
for  it  is  the  origin  of  all  evil.  But  falsehood  has  no 
real  existence ;  it  is  already  annihilated ;  and,  as  in  its 
very  nature  it  is  annihilated,  it  must  also  be  annihilated 
m  its  outward  manifestations.  For  man  has  been  created 
neither  with  nor  for  falsehood,  but  with  and  for  truth. 
Again,  man  does  not  create  falsehood  out  of  himself, 
out  of  his  own  nature ;  he  can  and  does  create  it  only 
because  God  has  created  him  for  truth.  Man  creates 
falsehood  by  failing  to  recognize  this  fact  for  himself, 
or  to  lead  others  to  recognize  it.  Man  creates  false- 
hood by  hindering  the  recognition  of  this  fact  as  pro- 
ceeding from  the  pure  fount  of  his  being  in  and 
through  himself. 

Man,  as  an  earthly  phenomenon,  is  destined  to  have 
body  and  soul  developed  consciously  and  rationally,  with 
a  certain  degree  of  symmetry  and  harmony.  If  man 
could  only  reach  a  clear  and  distinct  knowledge  of  his 
nature — if,  after  having  attained  such  knowledge  wholly 
or  in  part,  he  were  not  so  paralyzed  in  strength  and  will 
by  evil  habit  and  infirmity — he  would  immediately  throw 
off  all  shortcomings,  and  even  the  manifestation  of  all 
evil  that  is  in  him  and  done  by  him — ^that  clings  to  him, 
as  it  were,  and  hides  him  like  a  disguise.  All  these 
shortcomings  and  wrong-doings  have  their  origin  merely 
in  the  disturbed  relations  of  these  two  sides  of  man : 
his  nature,  that  which  he  has  grown  to  be ;  and  his 
essence,  his  innermost  being.  Therefore,  a  suppressed 
or  perverted  good  quality — a  good  tendency,  only  re- 
pressed, misunderstood,  or  misguided — lies  originally 
at  the  bottom  of  every  shortcoming  in  man.  Hence 
the  only  and  infallible  remedy  for  counteracting  any 


122  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

shortcoming  and  even  wickedness  is  to  find  the  origi- 
nally good  source,  the  originally  good  side  of  the  human 
being  that  has  been  repressed,  disturbed,  or  misled  into 
the  shortcoming,  and  then  to  foster,  build  up,  and  prop- 
erly guide  this  good  side.  Thus  the  shortcoming  will 
at  last  disappear,  although  it  may  involve  a  hard  strug- 
gle against  hahit,  hut  not  against  original  depravity  in 
man ;  and  this  is  accomplished  so  much  the  more  rapidly 
and  surely  because  man  himseK  tends  to  abandon  his 
shortcomings,  for  man  prefers  right  to  wrong. 

§  53.  Thus,  selecting  one  point  for  illustration,  we 
can  not  deny  that  there  is  at  present  among  children 
and  boys  little  simplicity,  little  true  gentleness,  little 
mutual  forbearance,  brotherly  patience,  little  true  re- 
ligious feeling ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  much  egotism, 
unfriendliness,  particularly  rudeness,  etc.  This  is  clearly 
-due  not  merely  to  the  failure  of  arousing  at  an  early 
period,  and  of  subsequently  cultivating  in  the  child 
and  boy  a  feeling  of  common  sympathy,  but  also  to 
the  early  annihilation  of  this  feeling  between  parents 
and  children. 

If,  then,  true  brotherly  love,  true  simplicity,  trust- 
ful and  truly  loving  gentleness,  friendliness,  forbear- 
ance, and  respect  for  the  companion  and  fellow-man  is 
to  prevail  again,  this  can  be  accomplished  only  by  ad- 
dressing ourselves  to  the  feeling  of  common  sympathy 
lingering — however  much  or  little  of  it  there  may  still 
be  left — in  the  heart  of  every  human  being,  and  culti- 
vating it  with  the  greatest  care.  This  would  surely 
soon  give  back  to  us  what  we  now  miss  so  painfully  in 
domestic,  social,  and  religious  life. 

Another  source  of  many  boyish  faults  lies  in  precipi- 


THE  BOYHOOD  OP  MAN.  123 

tation,  carelessness,  frivolity,  and  thoughtlessness.  The 
boy  is  apt  to  act  in  obedience  to  a  possibly  praiseworthy 
impulse  that  holds  captive  his  mind  and  body ;  but  he 
has  not  as  yet  experienced  in  his  life  the  consequences 
of  gratifying  this  particular  impulse,  and  it  has,  indeed, 
not  even  occurred  to  him  to  consider  the  consequences 
of  the  action  (see  §  6). 

Thus  a  boy  of  by  no  means  evil  disposition  took  real 
delight  in  powdering  his  dear  uncle's  wig  with  plaster- 
of -Paris  without  any  thought  of  wrong,  and  still  more 
without  considering  that  the  hard  grains  of  stone  would 
necessarily  injure  the  hair  of  the  wig. 

Another  boy  found  in  a  large  tub  of  water  some 
deep,  round  bowls  of  porcelain.  He  observed  accident- 
ally that  these  bowls,  when  dropped  upside  down  on 
the  smooth  surface  of  water,  sprang  back  with  an  ex- 
plosive noise.  This  gave  him  pleasure ;  he  frequently 
tried  the  experiment,  perfectly  sure,  without  doubt,  that 
the  bowl  could  not  be  broken  in  the  deep,  yielding 
water.  He  was  frequently  successful,  and,  in  order  to 
improve  the  result  of  the  experiment,  the  bowl  w^as 
dropped  from  greater  and  greater  heights.  At  one 
time  the  bowl  fell  so  horizontally  upon  the  level  water- 
surface,  and  from  so  great  a  height,  that  the  imprisoned 
air  could  not  escape  in  any  direction,  but  was  com- 
pressed so  forcibly  that  it  broke  the  bowl  into  two  al- 
most equal  parts.  Perplexed  and  distressed,  the  little 
self-teaching  physicist  stood  before  the  unexpected  re- 
sult of  his  play  that  had  delighted  him  so  much. 

Yet  boys  show  a  still  greater — indeed,  almost  an  in- 
credible— degree  of  short-sightedness  in  obeying  their 
impulses. 


124:  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

A  boy  throws  stones  for  a  long  time  at  the  small  win- 
dow of  a  house  near  by,  trjdng  very  hard  to  hit  it.  He 
has  no  idea,  nor  does  he  realize  that,  if  a  stone  strikes 
the  window,  the  latter  must  necessarily  break.  At  last 
a  stone  hits  the  window,  the  window  breaks,  and  the 
amazed  boy  stands  rooted  to  the  spot. 

Again,  another  boy — by  no  means  malicious,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  very  good-natured  and  fond  of  pigeons 
— aimed  at  his  neighbor's  beautiful  pigeon  on  the  roof, 
with  perfect  delight  and  an  intense  desire  to  hit  his 
mark.  He  did  not  consider  that,  if  the  bullet  should 
hit  the  mark,  the  pigeon  would  be  killed,  and  still  less 
that  this  pigeon  might  be  the  mother  of  young  ones 
needing  her  care.  He  fired,  the  bullet  struck,  the  pigeon 
fell,  a  beautiful  pair  of  pigeons  were  separated,  and  a 
number  of  unfledged  young  ones  lost  the  mother  who 
had  fed  and  warmed  them. 

It  is  certainly  a  very  great  truth — and  failure  to 
appreciate  it  does  daily  great  harm — that  it  generally 
is  some  other  human  being,  not  unfrequently  the  edu- 
cator himself,  that  first  makes  the  child  or  the  boy  bad. 
This  is  accomplished  by  attributing  evil — or,  at  least, 
wrong — motives  to  all  that  the  child  or  boy  does  from 
ignorance,  precipitation,  or  even  from  a  keen  and  praise- 
worthy sense  of  right  or  wrong. 

Unfortunately,  there  still  are  such  men  of  mischief 
among  educators.  To  them  children  and  boys  are 
always  little  malicious,  spiteful,  lurking  sprites,  where 
others  see  at  most  a  jest  carried  too  far,  or  the  effect  of 
too  free  an  exercise  of  spirit. 

Such  birds  of  ill  omen,  especially  when  they  are 
educators,  are  the  first  to  bring  guilt  upon  such  a  child, 


THE  BOYHOOD  OF  MAN.  125 

who,  tliough  not  wholly  innocent,  is  yet  without  guilt; 
for  they  give  him  motives  and  incentives  which  were 
as  yet  unknown  to  him;  they  make  his  actions  bad, 
though  not,  at  first,  his  will ;  they  kill  him  spiritually, 
take  away  his  (spiritual)  life,  and  lead  him  to  think 
that  this  life  does  not  come  to  him  out  of  himself 
and  through  himself,  and  that  he  can  not  secure  it 
by  his  own  effort.  When  true  (spiritual)  life  has  thus 
left  him,  and  he  can  not  secure  it  by  his  efforts,  what 
does  mere  knowledge  avail  him  ?  what  does  a  powerless 
wish,  devoid  of  energy,  avail  him?  What  they  have 
thus  made  evil  and  bad  in  the  belief  that  not  even  the 
child  can  attain  heaven,  can  carry  a  heaven  in  his  heart, 
without  first  going,  to  speak  mildly,  through  guilt — 
this  they  would  have  made  good  again  by  God,  and  this 
they  call  converting  the  child. 

They  act  like  the  good-natured  little  boy  who  says 
of  his  fly  or  beetle  that  is  weak  from  maltreatment,  or 
has  even  lost  its  feet,  "•  See,  how  tame ! " 

There  still  are  children  and  boys  who,  in  spite  of 
great  external  shortcomings  from  neglect  or  ignorance 
of  external  relations  of  life,  and  in  spite  of  total  aban- 
donment to  momentary  impulses,  nevertheless  have  an 
intense  inner  desire  to  become  good  and  virtuous.  It  is 
true,  such  boys  ultimately  also  may  become  intrinsically 
bad,  but  only  because  in  their  innermost  desires  they 
have  frequently  been  not  only  not  understood,  but  mis- 
understood. Could  they  yet  be  appreciated  in  good 
time,  they  would  certainly  still  become  good  men. 

Children  and  boys,  indeed,  are  often  punished  by 
parents  and  adults  for  faults  and  misdemeanors  which 
they  had  perhaps  previously  learned  from  these  very 


126  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

persons.  Punisliment,  especially  punislimeiit  by  words, 
very  often  teaches  children,  or  at  least  brings  to  their 
notice,  faults  of  which  they  were  wholly  free. 

§  54.  Man,  therefore,  sins  much  more  against  man, 
against  the  children,  than  he  does  against  God.  For 
what  can  the  unworthy  action  of  the  naughty  child 
eifect  against  the  dignity  of  the  father  whose  virtue  has 
been  proved  and  is  acknowledged  ?  On  the  other  hand, 
how  much  injury  in  body  and  soul  may  come  to  a 
younger  child  through  the  words  and  deeds  of  a  naughty 
boy !  This,  too,  indicates  the  relation  of  man  to  man, 
and  of  man  to  God. 

§  55.  As  already  indicated,  a  deep  and  significant 
feeling  of  anticipation  and  longing  aspiration  occupies 
the  boy's  mind  in  all  he  does  during  this  period.  All 
he  does  bears  a  common  character,  for  he  seeks  the  unity 
that  unites  all  things  and  beings,  he  seeks  to  find  him- 
self in  and  among  all  things. 

An  indefinable  longing  urges  him  to  seek  the  things 
of  nature,  the  hidden  objects,  plants  and  flowers,  etc., 
in  nature ;  for  a  constant  presentiment  assures  him  that 
the  things  which  satisfy  the  longing  of  the  heart  can 
not  be  found  on  the  surface ;  out  of  the  depth  and 
darkness  they  must  be  brought  forth. 

Educators  not  only  neglect  at  an  early  period  to 
nurture  this  longing,  but,  unfortunately,  they  disturb  at 
too  early  a  period  even  the  boy's  effort  to  nourish  it  from 
his  own  resources.  For  the  boy  of  this  age,  who  has 
been  led  naturally,  however  feebly  and  unconsciously, 
seeks,  in  fact,  only  the  unity  that  unites  all  things,  the 
absolute  living  Unity,  the  source  of  all  things — God ; 
not  a  god  made  and  fashioned  by  human  wi^,  bjaj;  Him 


THE  BOYHOOD   OF   MAN.  127 

who  is  ever  near  the  heart  and  mind,  near  the  living 
spirit,  and  who,  therefore,  may  be  known  in  spirit  and 
in  truth,  and  who  alone  can  be  thus  approached.  _^ 

In  his  maturity,  the  boy  is  satisfied  only  when  he  has  / 
found  Him  to  whom  he  has  been  drawn  by  indefinable  1 
yearning,  because  only  then  will  he  have  found  himself .  J 
We  have  thus  reviewed  the  inner  and  outer  life  of  the 
boy  in  free  activity  at  school  age.     What,  now,  makes 
the  school  ? 


ly. 

MAN  AS  A  SCHOLAE  OK  PUPIL. 

§  56.  The  school  endeavors  to  render  tlie  scholar 
fnlly  conscious  of  the  nature  and  inner  life  of  things 
and  of  himself,  to  teach  him  to  know  tlie  inner  rela- 
tions of  things  to  one  another,  to  the  human  being,  to 
the  scholar,  and  to  the  living  source  and  conscious  unity 
of  all  things — to  God  (see  §  45). 

jiThe  aim  of  instruction  is  to  bring  the  scholar  to  in- 
sight into  the  miity  of  all  things,  into  the  fact  that  all 
things  have  their  being  and  life  in  God,  so  that  in  due 
time  he  may  be  able  to  act  and  live  in  accordance  with 
this  insight.  Instruction  itself  offers  the  ways  and 
means  for  attaining  this  aim  (see  §  45). 

Therefore,  the  school  and  instruction  place  the  ex- 
ternal world  and  his  own  self,  inasmuch  as  this  forms  a 
part  of  the  external  world,  before  the  scholar  as  some- 
thing separate,  something  different  from  him,  something 
foreign  to  him. 

Furthermore,  the  school  points  out  the  inner  tenden- 
cies and  relations  among  individual  things  and  objects, 
and  thus  rises  to  ever  higher  generality  and  spirituality. 
Therefore,  the  boy,  when  he  enters  school,  leaves  the 
external  view  of  things  and  enters  upon  a  higher  spirit- 
ual view  of  them. 


MAN  AS  A  SCHOLAR  OR  PUPIL.  129 

It  is  this  leaving  of  the  outer  and  superficial  view 
of  things  on  the  part  of  the  child,  and  his  entrance  upon 
an  inner  view  leading  to  knowledge,  insight,  and  con- 
sciousness, it  is  this  transition  of  the  child  from  do- 
mestic order  to  the  higher  cosmic  order  of  things  that 
makes  the  boy  a  scholar  and  constitutes  the  essence  of 
the  school. 

It  is  bj  no  means  the  acquisition  of  a  certain  num- 
ber of  miscellaneous  external  facts  that  constitutes  the 
essential  characteristic  of  the  school,  but  only  the  living 
spirit  that  animates  all  things  and  in  which  all  things 
move. 

Would  that  all  whose  business  it  is  to  direct  and 
manage  schools  might  carefully  consider  this ! 

Therefore,  the  school,  as  such,  implies  the  presence 
of  an  intelligent  consciousness  which,  as  it  were,  hovers 
over  and  between  the  outer  world  and  the  scholar, 
which  unites  in  itself  the  essence  of  both,  holds  the  in- 
ner being  of  both,  mediating  between  the  two,  impart- 
ing to  them  language  and  mutual  understanding.  This 
consciousness  is  the  master  in  this  art,  who  is  called 
master  also  because  for  most  things  he  is  to  point  out 
the  unity  of  things.*  He  is  ^(^AooZmaster  because  it  is 
his  business  to  point  out  and  render  clear  to  himself 
and  others  the  inner,  spiritual  nature  of  things. 

Every  school-child  anticipates,  expects,  and  requires 
this  of  the  schoolmaster ;  and  this  anticipation  and  hope, 
this  faith,  is  the  invisible  and  efficacious  tie  between 
the  two. 

*  Another  of  FroebePs  strange  plays  on  words  that  have  no  connec- 
tion with  each  other — this  time  the  words  Meister  and  meist  {master  and 
most). — Tr. 


130  THE  EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

It  is  probable,  too,  that  this  anticipation  and  hope, 
this  childlike  faith  of  children,  enabled  former  school- 
masters to  be  much  more  efficient  in  the  production  of 
genuine  inner  life  in  their  children  than  many  school- 
teachers of  our  day,  who  acquaint  the  children  with 
many  things  without  showing  them  their  necessary 
inner  spiritual  unity  and  connection. 

Do  not  reply  that,  even  if  this  higher  view  of  the 
school  is  the  true  one,  and  if  there  exists  an  inner 
spiritual  ideal  of  it,  it  could  scarcely  be  shown  to  have 
an  actual  existence — at  least,  not  where  a  tailor,  as 
schoolmaster,  sits  enthroned  on  his  working-table,  and 
the  children  below  him  recite  their  a-b,  ab,  and  their 
"  sum  total  of  all  instruction,"  nor  where  an  old  wood- 
cutter in  winter,  in  a  dark,  sooty  room,  drives  into  the 
heads  of  children  the  explanation  of  the  small  Lutheran 
catechism  as  he  would  his  wedges  for  wood-splitting — 
that  here  certainly  spirit,  spiritual  nature,  and  life  have 
no  place. 

[Froebel's  early  life  fell  in  the  period  when  country  schools 
were  still,  in  many  cases,  intrusted  to  persons  who  earned  their  live- 
lihood chiefly  in  some  other  occupation,  such  as  tailoring,  shoemak- 
ing,  weaving,  etc.  Not  unfrequently  in  poorer  communities  the  same 
man  "  kept  school "  m  winter,  and  during  the  summer  worked  on 
farms,  or  acted  as  a  communal  shepherd.  One  and  the  same  scanty 
school-book  contained  "  the  sum  total  of  all  instruction  " — the  bulk 
of  which  was  made  up  of  the  Lutheran  catechism. — Tr.] 

But  just  here  they  have  a  place ;  how  else  could  the 
blind  show  the  way  to  the  lame,  and  the  cripple  support 
the  weak  on  his  feet  ?  It  is  only  the  child's  anticipa- 
tion, his  faith,  his  child-like  siraphcity,  which  hopes 
and  trusts  that  the  schoolmaster — simply  because  he  is 
and  is  called  schoolmaster — can  give  an  inner  spiritual 


MAN  AS  A  SCHOLAR  OR  PUPIL.  131 

unity  to  that  which  is  externally  separated,  giving  life 
to  that  which  is  dead,  and  meaning  to  that  which  lives. 

This  expectation  alone,  be  it  ever  so  misty  and  ob- 
scure, renders  the  schoolmaster's  work  efficient.  This 
anticipation  and  faith  are  like  the  all-quickening  air  by 
which  the  stones,  which  he  may  offer  his  children  to  eat, 
are  turned  into  food  for  them — if  not  for  their  head, 
yet  for  the  heart.  It  is  this  anticipation,  hope,  and 
yearning,  this  all-quickening  spirit  and  breath,  that  even 
in  the  dark,  sooty  room,  make  the  school  so  dear  to  the 
school-boy. 

The  spirit,  the  genuine  spirit  of  the  school,  like  the 
spirit  of  Jesus  and  of  God,  does  not  come  by  external 
doings.  Thus,  too,  spacious  school-rooms,  as  such,  are 
not  sufficient  if  the  good  ventilation  has  taken  the  place 
of  higher  spiritual  life.  Airy,  bright  school-rooms  are 
a  great,  precious  boon,  worthy  the  daily  gratitude  of 
teacher  and  pupil ;  but  alone  they  are  not  sufficient. 

Luther's  words,  "  To  fast  and  to  deck  out  the  body 
furnish,  indeed,  fine  external  discipline ;  but  only  he 
is  truly  worthy  and  well  prepared  who  has  faith  and 
trust,"  find  their  application  here,  too. 

The  faith  and  trust,  the  hope  and  anticipation  with 
which  the  child  enters  school,  accomplish  everything; 
they  bring  about  stupendous  results  in  such  schools. 
For  the  child  enters  school  with  the  child-like  faith,  the 
silent  hope  :  "  Here  you  will  be  taught  something  that 
you  can  not  learn  elsewhere ;  here  you  gain  food  for 
mind  and  spirit,  elsewhere  you  can  obtain  food  only  for 
the  body ;  here  (this  is  literally  the  child's  living  hope 
and  anticipation)  you  receive  food  and  drink  that  still 
the  hunger  and  thirst,  elsewhere  you  are  offered  food 


132  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

and  drink  that  only  give  occasion  for  new  hunger  and 
thirst." 

With  this  faith  he  Hstens,  too,  to  the  ordinary  words, 
the  ordinary  speech  from  the  Hps  of  the  man  who  is  the 
schoolmaster. 

Even  if  there  is  no  high  spiritual  meaning  in  his 
words,  the  child's  faith  discovers  it  there  ;  and  the  child's 
high  power  of  spiritual  digestion  gets  food  from  chips 
and  straw. 

Now,  if  even  the  tailor,  wood-cutter,  or  weaver, 
when  he  teaches,  ceases  to  be  to  the  child  tailor,  wood- 
cutter, or  weaver,  and  becomes  schoolmaster,  how  much 
more  will  this  be  the  case  where  the  school-teacher  in 
village  or  city — be  he  called  organist,  chorister,  or  rector 
— is  truly  a  schoolmaster ! 

Ask  every  true  school-child,  let  every  one  who  in 
village  or  city  has  been  a  true  school-child  ask  himself, 
with  what  feeling  he  approached  the  school-house,  and 
still  more  with  what  feeling  he  entered  it ;  how  he  felt 
more  or  less  keenly  each  day  as  if  he  had  entered  into 
a  higher  spiritual  world. 

How  else  could  it  be  possible  for  children  to  repeat 
daily,  not  only  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  during 
a  whole  week,  without  tiring  but  with  a  feeling  of  height- 
ened life,  some  text  from  Sunday's  sermon — e.  g.,  "  Seek 
ye  hrst  the  kingdom  of  God  "  ?  How  else  could  the  chil- 
dren sing  and  memorize  hymns  abounding  in  strange 
figures,  such  as  "  How  much  it  costs  to  follow  Christ," 
or,  "  Let  heart  and  spirit  soar  on  high,"  daily,  in  sec- 
tions, during  a  whole  week,  with  true  inner  edification 
and  a  living  influence  on  the  life  of  every  scholar  ?  How 
else  could  this  be  done  at  an  early  period  of  boy-Hfe  in 


MAN  AS  A  SCHOLAR  OR  PUPIL.  133 

Bucli  a  way  that  in  tlie  storms  of  life  the  youth  and  the 
man  rest  on  these  things  as  on  a  rock  ? 

The  occasional  excessive  vivacity  of  the  boys  in 
school  does  not  contradict  this.  The  boy  feels  less  re- 
straint and  moves  more  freely  just  because  of  the  in- 
fluence of  the  school,  because  of  the  heightened  inner 
spiritual  power  which  has  been  fed  by  the  school.  The 
genuine  school-boy  should  never  be  dispirited  and  indo- 
lent, but  full  of  life  and  spirit,  strong  in  body  and  mind. 
Therefore  the  truly  high-spirited  boy  who  follows  hi» 
natural  vivacity  full  of  joy  surely  never  thinks  of  any 
injurious  effect  on  outer  life. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  think  that  the  energetic, 
animating,  uniting  (intensive)  power  of  man  increases 
with  years  and  cultivation.  The  energetic,  animating, 
uniting  power  decreases ;  and  the  expansive,  productive, 
creative,  modifying  (extensive)  power  increases. 

The  feeling  and  consciousness  of  this  extending, 
creative  power  in  man  unfortunately  have  a  tendency 
to  destroy  the  recognition  and  appreciation  of  the  for- 
mer energetic,  animating,  uniting  power.  This,  with 
the  confounding  of  the  two  in  their  nature  and  mani- 
festation, leads  us  in  life,  in  the  management  of 
schools  and  of  the  education  of  children,  to  great  and 
frequent  errors,  and  robs  the  life  of  each  one  of  its 
true  basis. 

We  now  trust  too  little  to  the  energetic  and  uniting 
power  in  the  child  and  boy — we  respect  it  too  little  as 
a  spiritually  quickening  power.  Therefore,  too,  it  has  ; 
too  little  influence  in  the  later  years  of  boyhood.  For 
the  neglect  of  this  inner  power  causes  the  inner  power 
itself  to  vanish. 
11 


134  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

Or  we  play  witli  this  power  wlien  it  manifests  itself 
in  cliildren.  Hence  we  fare  with  them  as  with  a  mag- 
net which  we  leave  hanging  or  even  lying  inactive  and 
without  a  burden,  or  with  whose  magnetic  power  we 
play  irregularly  and  regardless  of  magnetic  laws.  In 
both  cases  the  power  is  diminished  or  lost ;  when,  later 
on,  the  magnet  is  to  show  its  power,  it  is  found  weak 
and  inefficient.  So  it  is  with  those  children ;  when,  later 
on,  they  are  expected  to  bear  some  physical  or  moral 
burden,  they  are  found  wanting. 

Would  that,  in  judging  and  estimating  the  inner 
power  of  children  and  boys,  we  might  never  forget  the 
words  of  one  of  our  greatest  German  writers:  that 
there  is  a  greater  advance  from  the  infant  to  the 
speaking  child  than  there  is  from  the  school-boy  to  a 
Newton ! 

Now,  if  the  advance  is  greater,  the  power,  too,  must 
be  greater ;  this  we  should  consider.  The  later  extent, 
diversity,  directness,  and  concentration  of  man's  knowl- 
edge and  insight  (their  extensiveness)  dim  and  weaken 
our  apprehension  of  the  former  unity  and  mobility  (in- 
tensiveness)  of  human  power. 

It  is  the  spirit  alone,  then,  that  makes  the  school 
and  the  school-room ;  not  the  increasing  analysis  and 
isolation  of  what  is  already  isolated — a  process  that 
has  no  Hmits,  and  supplies  ever-new  data  for  further 
analysis  and  reduction — but  the  unification  of  that  which 
is  isolated  and  separate  by  attention  to  the  uniting  spirit 
that  lives  in  all  isolation  and  diversity.  This  it  is  that 
makes  the  school. 

Never  forget  that  the  essential  husiness  of  the  school 
is  not  so  muoh  to  teach  and  to  communicate  a  variety 


MAN  AS  A  SCHOLAR  OR  PUPIL.  135 

and  multiplicity  of  things  as  it  is  to  give  prominence 
to  the  ever-living  unity  that  is  in  all  things,  j 

[This  is  not  to  be  construed  as  meaning  that  schooling  should  be 
chiefly  for  "  power  "  or  "  mental  discipline,"  as  is  claimed  by  the  ad- 
vocates of  chiefly  formal  studies.  No  one  could  be  more  opposed 
than  Froebel  to  the  various  school  practices  of  "  threshing  empty 
straw "  for  the  sake  of  gaining  "  threshing  power."  What  he  de- 
mands in  the  above  sentence  is  the  teaching  of  principles  as  opposed 
to  the  teaching  of  isolated  facts  and  rules.  He  is  filled  with  the 
same  thought  which  Herbert  Spencer  subsequently  expressed  as  fol- 
lows: "  Between  a  mind  of  rules  and  a  mind  of  principles,  there  ex- 
ists a  difference,  such  as  that  between  a  confused  heap  of  materials, 
and  the  same  materials  organized  into  a  complete  whole,  with  all  its 
parts  bound  together."  In  both  eases,  it  will  be  seen,  material  con- 
tents are  implied,  and  mere  formalism  is  excluded. — Tr.'\ 

Because  this  is  so  frequently  forgotten  and  placed 
in  the  background  disregarded,  there  are  at  present  so 
many  ^ohool-teachers  and  so  few  mliool-masters,  so  many 
institutions  of  learning  and  so  few  schools. 

Possibly  they  do  not  know,  or,  at  least,  they  may 
not  have  recognized  with  sufficient  clearness  and  dis- 
tinctness, what  spirit  it  is  that  pervaded  and  even  now 
sometimes  pervades  genuine  schools,  what  spirit  it  is 
that  ought  to  animate  schools.  Even  the  genuine,  faith- 
ful schoolmaster,  in  the  simplicity  of  his  vocation,  may 
not  have  recognized  it  nor  formulated  it ;  in  the  faith- 
ful performance  of  his  work,  thoroughly  absorbed  in 
his  calling,  he  may  not  recognize  it  nor  be  able  to  for- 
mulate it.  For  this  reason,  no  doubt,  it  has  glided  away 
so  rapidly,  and  continues  to  vanish. 

Unfortunately,  we  see  here  again  confirmed  what  to 
our  sorrow  confronts  us  so  often  in  life :  that  even  the 
highest  and  most  precious  blessing  is  lost  by  man,  if  he 
does  not  know  what  he  possesses,  if  he  does  not  hold  it 


■[36  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

fast  and  represent  it  in  his  life  consciously,  freely,  and 
from  his  own  choice  (see  §  33).  The  anticipation  and 
hope,  the  trust  and  disposition  of  childliood  indeed  show 
the  way,  but  man  is  to  follow  it  with  conscious  insight 
and  self-determination,  persisting  in  what  he  knows  to 
be  rio^ht.  For  man  is  destined  for  consciousness,  for 
freedom,  and  for  self-determination. 

§  57.  Furthermore,  a  vivid  presentation  of  the  re- 
quirements of  the  school  shows  that  the  subject  in  which 
the  boy  is  to  be  instructed  is  also  the  one  about  which 
he  should  be  instructed — else  instruction  and  learning 
are  thoughtless  play  and  without  effect  upon  head  and 
heart,  the  intellect,  and  the  feelings. 

What  has  been  said  will  also  answer,  or,  at  least, 
make  it  easy  to  answer,  the  questions  :  Do  we  need 
schools  ?  Why  do  we  need  schools  and  instruction  ? 
What  shall  they  be,  and  how  shall  they  be  constituted  ? 

As  spiritual  and  material  beings,  we  are  to  become 
thinking,  conscious,  intelligent  (self-consciously  feeling 
and  perceiving),  efficient  human  beings.  We  should 
first  seek  to  cultivate  our  powers,  our  spirit,  as  received 
from  God ;  to  represent  the  divine  in  our  lives,  know- 
ing that  thereby  all  that  is  earthly  will,  too,  have  its 
claims  satisfied.  We  are  to  grow  in  wisdom  and  under- 
standing with  God  and  men,  in  human  and  divine  things. 
We  should  know  that  we  are  and  ought  to  be  and  to  live 
in  that  which  is  our  Father's.  We  should  know  that  we 
in  our  earthly  being  and  all  earthly  things  are  a  temple 
of  the  living  God.  We  should  know  that  we  are  to  be 
perfect  as  our  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect ;  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  this  knowledge  we  should  act  and  live. 
To  this  knowledge  the  school  is  to  lead  us ;  for  this  the 


MAN  AS  A  SCHOLAR  OR  PUPIL.  137 

school  and  instruction  are  needed ;  in  accordance  with 
this  aim  they  should  be  constituted. 

§  58.  What,  now,  shall  the  school  teach  ?  In  what 
shall  the  human  being,  the  boy  as  scholar,  be  instructed  ? 

Only  the  consideration  of  the  nature  and  require- 
ments of  human  development  at  the  stage  of  boyhood 
will  enable  us  to  answer  this  question.  But  the  knowl- 
edge of  this  nature  and  these  requirements  can  be  de- 
rived only  from  the  observation  of  the  character  of  man 
in  his  boyhood. 

]N^ow,  in  accordance  with  this  character,  this  man- 
ner of  being,  in  what  things  is  the  boy  to  be  in- 
structed ? 

The  life  and  outward  being  of  man  in  the  beginning 
of  boyhood  show  him,  in  the  first  place,  to  be  animated 
by  a  spiritual  self  of  his  own  ;  they  show,  too,  the  exist- 
ence of  a  vague  feeling  that  this  spiritual  self  has  its 
being  and  origin  in  a  higher  and  Supreme  Being,  and 
depends  on  this  Being  in  which,  indeed,  all  things  have 
their  being  and  origin,  and  on  which  all  things  depend. 
The  life  and  outward  being  of  man  in  boyhood  show 
the  presence  of  an  intense  feeling  and  anticipation  of 
the  existence  of  a  living,  quickening  Spirit,  in  which 
and  by  which  all  things  live,  by  which  all  things  are 
invisibly  surrounded,  as  a  fish  is  surrounded  by  water 
and  man  and  all  creatures  by  the  clear,  pure  atmosphere. 

In  his  boyhood,  in  the  beginning  of  his  school-hf  e, 
man  seems  to  feel  the  power  of  his  spiritual  nature,  to 
anticipate  vaguely  God  and  the  spiritual  nature  of  all 
things.  He  shows,  at  the  same  time,  a  desire  to  attain 
ever  more  clearness  in  that  feeling,  and  to  confirm  his 
anticipation. 


138  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

Man,  in  boyhood,  approaches  the  outer  world,  placed 
over  against  him,  with  the  feeling  and  hope  and  belief 
that  it,  too,  is  animated  and  ruled  by  a  spirit,  like  that 
which  animates  and  rules  him ;  and  he  is  filled  by  an 
intense,  irresistible  longing — which  returns  with  every 
new  spring  and  every  new  fall,  with  every  new,  fresh 
morning  and  calm  evening,  with  every  peaceful  festive 
day — a  longing  to  know  this  all-ruling  spirit,  to  make  it 
his  own,  as  it  were. 

The  outer  world  confronts  man  in  boyhood  in  a 
two-fold  chara;3ter — first,  as  the  product  of  human  re- 
quirements and  human  power,  and,  secondly,  as  the 
outcome  of  the  requirements  of  the  power  that  works 
in  nature. 

Between  this  outer  world  (the  world  of  form  and 
matter)  and  the  inner  world  (the  world  of  mind  and 
spirit),  language  appears — originally  united  with  both, 
but  gradually  freeing  itself  from  both,  and  thereby  unit- 
ing the  two. 

§  59.  Thus  the  mind  and  the  outer  xoorld  (first  as 
nature)^  and  language  which  unites  the  two,  are  the 
poles  of  boy-life,  as  they  also  were  the  poles  of  mankind 
as  a  whole  in  the  first  stage  of  approaching  maturity  (as 
the  sacred  books  show).  Through  them  the  school  and 
instruction  are  to  lead  the  boy  to  the  threefold,  yet  in 
itself  one,  knowledge — to  the  knowledge  of  himseK  in 
all  his  relations,  and  thus  to  the  knowledge  of  man  as 
such ;  to  the  knowledge  of  God,  the  eternal  condition, 
cause,  and  source  of  his  being  and  of  the  being  of  all 
things ;  and  to  the  knowledge  of  nature  and  the  outer 
world  as  proceeding  from  the  Eternal  Spirit,  and  de- 
pending thereon. 


MAN  AS  A  SCHOLAR  OR  PUPIL.  139 

Instruction  and  the  school  are  to  lead  man  to  a  life 
in  full  harmony  with  that  threefold,  yet  in  itself  one, 
knowledge.  By  this  knowledge  they  are  to  lead  man 
from  desire  to  will,  from  will  to  firmness  of  will,  and 
thus  in  continuous  progression  to  the  attainment  of  his 
destiny,  to  the  attainment  of  his  earthly  perfection. 


THE    CHIEF    GROUPS    OF    SUBJECTS    OF 
INSTRUCTION. 

A.  Religion  and  Religious  Instruction. 

§  60.  Religion  is  the  endeavor  to  raise  into  clear 
knowledge  the  feeling  that  originally  the  spiritual  self 
of  man  is  one  with  God,  to  realize  the  unity  with  God 
which  is  founded  on  this  clear  knowledge,  and  to  con- 
tinue to  live  in  this  unity  with  God,  serene  and  strong, 
in  every  condition  and  relation  of  life. 

Religion  is  not  something  fixed,  hit  an  ever-jpro- 
gressiiig  and,  for  this  very  reason,  ever-jyresent  tend- 
ency. 

\  Religious  instruction  quickens,  confirms,  explains 
the  feeling  that  man's  own  spiritual  self,  his  soul,  his 
piind  and  spirit,  have  their  being  and  origin  in  God  and 
proceed  from  God ;  it  shows  that  the  quaHties  and  the 
nature  of  the  soul,  of  the  mind  and  spirit,  have  their 
being  in  and  through  God  ;  it  gives  an  insight  into  the 
being  and  working  of  God  ;  it  gives  an  insight  into  the 
relation  of  God  to  man,  as  it  is  clearly  -manifested  in 
the  mind  and  life  of  every  one,  in  life  as  such,  and  par- 
ticularly in  the  life  and  development  of  mankind,  as 
they  are  preserved  and  revealed  in  the  sacred  books ;  it 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      141 

applies  this  knowledge  to  life  as  such,  and  particularly 
to  and  in  the  life  of  each  one,  and  to  the  progressive 
development  of  mankind,  so  that  the  divine  may  be 
represented  in  the  human,  and  that  man  may  know  and 
do  his  duty ;  it  presents  and  points  out  the  ways  and 
means  by  which  the  desire  to  live  in  true  unity  with 
God  may  be  gratified,  and  by  which  this  unity,  if  im- 
paired, may  be  restored. 

For  this  reason  religious  instruction  always  as- 
sumes some  degree  of  religion^  however  weak.  Relig- 
ious instruction  can  bear  fruit,  can  aifect  and  influ- 
ence life  only  in  so  far  as  it  finds  in  the  mind  of 
man  true  religion,  however  indefinite  and  vague.  If  it 
were  possible  that  a  human  being  could  be  without  re- 
ligion, it  would  also  be  impossible  to  give  him  religion. 

This  should  be  considered  by  thoughtless  parents 
who  allow  their  children  to  grow  to  school  age  without 
giving  the  slightest  care  to  the  religious  tendency  of 
the  young  minds  (see  §  21). 

Intelligent  insight  into  the  nature  of  religion — sim- 
ple as  it  is,  founded  in  the  very  nature  of  man,  and  so 
in  harmony  with  the  nature  of  man — is  nevertheless  so 
rarely  pure,  because  man,  who  is  also  material  and  oc- 
cupies space,  finds  it  difficult  to  understand  original 
unity  without  assuming  and  premising  previous  separa- 
tion, and  because  in  the  mind  of  man  the  conception  of 
unification  is  always  associated  with  the  conception  of 
union  in  space  or  time.  But  God,  the  spiritual,  eter- 
nally self-developing,  must  ever  remain  an  undivided 
one,  simply  because  he  is  spiritual ;  and,  as  t/rue  origi- 
nal unity  by  no  means  implies,  but  absolutely  excludes^ 
jprevious  separation,  so   unification   neither  supposes 


142  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

nor  requires,  but  absolutely  excludes^  union  in  space 
and  time. 

Human  experience  and  observation  offer  by  far 
more  proofs  than  are  needed  to  demonstrate  and  ex- 
plain this.  For  the  idea,  the  thought  translated  by 
man  into  living  form  in  some  outward  work,  was  origi- 
nally in  immediate  unity  with  his  being,  and  bears  un- 
mistakably the  impress  of  the  personality  and  individu- 
ality of  the  particular  human  being.  This  thought  in 
this  particular  form  belongs  only  to  this  human  being ; 
and,  were  it  to  become  conscious  of  itself  in  the  form 
given  to  it,  it  could  return  to  the  totaHty  of  the  thought 
of  the  man  from  whom  it  proceeds — ^i.  e.,  it  would  give 
itself  an  account  of  its  relation  to  the  totality  of  thought 
of  this  man ;  in  the  consciousness  of  this  relation  it 
might  develop  and  cultivate  itself  and  thus  raise  itself 
to  an  apprehension  of  the  totality  of  thought  of  this 
man ;  nay,  it  might  even  raise  itself  at  least  to  a  vague 
apprehension  of  the  fundamental  thought  of  the  human 
being  from  whom  it  proceeds.  For  every  human  heing 
has,  indeed,  hut  one  thought  jpeculiarly  am.d  predomi- 
nantly his  own,  the  fundamental  thought,  as  it  were,  of 
his  whole  being,  the  key-note  of  his  life-symphony,  a 
thought  which  he  simply  seeks  to  express  and  render 
clear  with  the  help  of  a  thousand  other  thoughts,  with 
the  help  of  all  he  does.  Yet,  by  the  representation  of 
that  thought,  and  of  all  other  thoughts  in  living  out- 
ward form,  man  has  not  in  any  sense  been  diminished 
within  himseK;  and,  although  this  thought  now  ap- 
pears only  outside  of  man,  yet  he  will  always  cheerfully 
recognize  it  as  his  own,  and  concern  himself  about  its 
development  and  cultivation  (see  §  63)o 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF   INSTRUCTION.      14,3 

The  thinker  and  the  thought — could  the  latter  be- 
come conscious  of  itself — must  ever  be  intensely  mind- 
ful of  the  fact  of  their  original  unity;  and  yet  the 
thought  is  not  the  thinker,  although  essentially  one  and 
nnited;  such  is  the  relation  of  the  human  spirit  to 
God. 

A  father  has  one  or  many  sons.  Each  one  is  an  in- 
dependent, self-conscious  being.  Yet  who  can  fail  to 
see  that  each  son  expresses,  in  a  new  individuality,  the 
nature  of  the  father  ? 

The  son,  or  each  one  of  the  sons,  even  in  the  most 
trivial  thing  and  the  most  decided  peculiarity,  is  again 
the  father,  only  in  a  new  individuality.  Indeed,  the 
sons  of  the  same  father,  of  the  same  parents,  resemble 
one  another  in  disposition,  speech,  tone  of  voice,  and 
movements,  so  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  new 
peculiarity,  any  one  of  them  may,  in  many  respects, 
be  put  in  the  place  of  another.  Yet  none  of  them 
is  a  part  of  another — each  one  is  whole;  not  one  of 
them  is  a  particular  part  of  the  father.  As  they  are 
whole  and  undivided,  so,  too,  the  father  is  still  whole 
and  undivided.  Could  we  see  human  relationships 
clearly,  we  should  apprehend  and  recognize  the  divine. 

Similarly,  unification  does  not  imply  a  material  union 
in  time  and  space.  Can  not  the  thinking,  feeling  man 
be  at  one  with  his  friends  and  beloved  ones,  and  act  in 
unison  with  them,  although  lands  and  seas  separate 
them  from  him  ?  Can  not  and  does  not  man  feel  him- 
self to  be  in  spiritual  union  with  human  beings  of 
whom  he  has  only  heard,  whom  he  has  never  seen  and 
never  will  see,  and  does  he  not  act  in  unison  with 
them  ?     Can  not  man  feel  himself  to  be  in  spiritual 


144  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

nnion  with  human  beings  who  lived  and  worked  thou- 
sands of  years  ago,  or  who  may  appear  upon  the  earth 
or  elsewhere  in  space  thousands  of  years  later,  and  can 
he  not  act  in  unison  with  these  ? 

Man  spurns  what  might  be  to  him  a  guide  and  a 
light  in  his  material  experiences.  Therefore,  he  is  apt 
to  grope  also  without  guide  and  light  in  the  realms  of 
the  purely  spiritual,  of  the  divine,  which  is  without  time 
and  space. 

It  is  and  remains  forever  true  that,  in  purely  and 
distinctly  human  relations,  particularly  in  parental  and 
spiritual  human  relations,  there  are  mirrored  the  rela- 
tions between  the  divine  and  the  human,  between  God 
and  man.  Those  pure  relations  of  man  to  man  reveal 
to  us  the  relations  of  God  to  man  and  of  man  to  God. 

§  61.  If  man  consciously  and  clearly  recognizes  that 
his  spiritual  self  proceeds  from  God,  that  it  is  born  in 
God  and  from  God,  that  it  is  originally  one  with  God, 
and  that  consequently  he  is  in  a  state  of  continuous  de- 
pendence on  God,  as  well  as  in  a  state  of  continuous  and 
uninterrupted  community  with  God ;  if  he  finds  his  sal- 
vation, his  peace,  his  joy,  his  destiny,  his  life  (which  is 
the  genuine  and  only  true  life  as  such),  and  the  source 
of  bis  being  in  this  eternally  necessary  dependence  of 
his  self  on  God,  in  the  clearness  of  this  knowledge,  in 
living  and  constant  obedience  to  this  knowledge  in  all 
he  does,  in  a  life,  indeed,  fully  unified  with  this  knowl- 
edge and  conviction — he  truly,  and  in  the  full  sense  of 
the  words,  recognizes  in  God  his  Father.  If  he  ac- 
knowledges himself  to  he  a  child  of  God,  and  lives  in 
accordance  with  this,  he  has  the  Christian  religion,  the 
religion  of  Jesus. 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      145 

Therefore,  a  pure  earthly,  filial  relation  in  thought 
and  action  is  such  as  was  told  of  Jesus — "  and  he  was 
subject  unto  them  "  (his  parents). 

Therefore,  a  genuine  parental  relation  in  thought 
and  action,  honoring  and  acknowledging  the  as  yet  un- 
revealed  and  undeveloped  divine  spirit  in  the  child,  is 
such  as  was  told  of  Mary :  "  But  Mary  kept  all  these 
sayings,  pondering  them  in  her  heart." 

Therefore,  pure  human,  parental,  and  filial  relations 
are  the  key,  the  first  condition,  of  that  heavenly,  divine, 
fatherly,  and  filial  relation  and  life,  of  a  genuine  Christian 
life  in  thought  and  action. 

Therefore,  the  comprehension  of  the  purely  spiritual 
human  relations,  of  the  true  parental  and  filial  relations, 
furnishes  the  only  key  for  the  recognition  and  appre- 
hension of  the  relations  of  God  to  man  and  of  man  to 
God. 

Only  in  the  measure  in  which  we  fully  comprehend 
the  purely  spiritual,  intrinsically  human  relations,  and 
are  faithful  to  them  in  life,  even  in  the  smallest  details, 
can  we  attain  a  full  knowledge  and  conception  of  the 
relations  between  God  and  man,  apprehending  them  so 
deeply,  vividly,  and  truly  that  every  yearning  of  our 
whole  being  is  thereby  gratified,  or  at  least  clearly  in- 
terpreted, and  is  transformed  from  an  ever-ungratified 
longing  into  a  steadily  fruitful  aspiration. 

We  do  not  yet  know,  we  do  not,  indeed,  apprehend 
in  the  least,  that  which  is  so  near  us,  which  is  one  with 
our  life,  with  ourselves ;  we  are  not  even  loyal  to  the 
verbal  knowledge  and  verbal  apprehension  of  which  we 
boast.  This  is  daily  shown  by  our  behavior  toward  our 
parents,  our  children,  our  education. 


146  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN, 

We  would  be  children  of  God,  and  are  not  yet  chil- 
dren of  our  fathers,  of  our  parents.  God  is  to  be  our 
Father,  and  we  are  so  far  from  being  true  fathers  to  our 
children.  "We  would  have  an  insight  into  the  divine, 
and  we  leave  unheeded  the  human  relations  that  lead  to 
such  insight. 

Insight  into  the  relations  between  God  and  man, 
with  full  comprehension  of  these  relations,  blesses  even 
to  the  thousandth  generation  through  pure  parental  and 
filial  relations,  and  a  life  in  accordance  with  these. 

"We  put  outward  limits  to  humanity  eternally  pro- 
gressing in  its  development,  we  inclose  it  in  external 
bounds,  and  we  imagine  that  it  has  already  reached 
these  bounds,  even  in  its  earthly  development.  Hu- 
manity, which  lives  only  in  its  continuous  development 
and  cultivation,  seems  to  us  dead  and  stationary,  some- 
thing to  be  modeled  over  again  and  again  in  accordance 
with  its  present  type.  We  are  ignorant  of  our  own 
/nature  and  of  the  nature  of  humanity,  and  yet  would 
know  God  and  Jesus.  We  imagine  that  we  already 
know  our  own  nature  and  the  nature  of  humanity,  and, 
[  therefore,  fail  to  know  God  and  Jesus. 

We  separate  God  and  man,  man  and  Jesus,  and  yet 
would  come  to  God  and  Jesus.  We  fail  to  see  that 
every  external  separation  implies  an  original  inner  unity. 
However  clearly  and  unequivocally  this  is  taught  in 
the  word  and  in  the  idea  of  separation,  we  overlook  it 
wholly. 

The  intimate  unity  of  God  and  Jesus  can  not  be  ex- 
pressed more  comprehensively  and  exhaustively,  more 
truly  and  adequately,  than  by  the  relation  of  father  and 
son,  the  highest  and  most  intimate  relation  that  man  can 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.     14-7 

know  and  compreliend,  but  whicli  generally  is  viewed 
only  superficially,  and  not  in  its  innermost  spiritual,  per- 
vasive significance.  The  child,  however,  attains  true 
sonship  only  by  developing  within  himself  the  father's 
nature  in  full  consciousness  and  clear  insight,  by  mak- 
ing the  father's  views,  the  father's  nature  and  aspira- 
tions, the  motives  for  all  his  thoughts  and  actions ;  and 
by  esteeming  it  his  chief  business,  the  source  of  peace 
and  joy  in  his  life,  to  be  in  all  he  does  in  harmony  with 
his  father  whose  high  worth  he  has  recognized.  Such 
is  the  pure,  genuine,  and  high,  yet  truly  human,  relation 
of  the  son  to  his  father — the  relation  of  the  true,  genu- 
ine son  to  the  true,  genuine  father. 

The  relation  of  sonship  always  implies  on  the  part 
of  the  son  a  conscious  sharing  of  the  father's  views  and 
aspirations — a  complete,  essential,  intrinsic,  spiritual  ac- 
cord between  the  son  and  father. 

Of  course,  this  relation  is  and  should  be  established 
first  with  the  oldest,  first-born  son.  "While  all  his 
younger  brothers  are  still  children,  he  is  the  only,  the 
first-born  son. 

Jesus  is  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God — he  is  the 
beloved  son  of  God ;  for  among  all  human  and  earth- 
born,  among  all  heaven-born  children,  he  is  the  first 
who  in  his  knowledge  and  insight,  in  his  thoughts, 
views,  and  conduct,  was  equally  filled  and  animated  by 
his  Sonship  to  God  —  by  God's  Fatherhood  to  him. 
Therefore,  he  is  the  first-born  of  God,  the  first-born  of 
all  created  beings. 

The  oft-repeated  saying  of  Jesus,  "  Believe  in  me  " 
— "  If  ye  were  to  believe  in  me  " — means  this  :  "  Could 
you  but  feel,  know,  see,  that  the  highest  thing  that  man, 


148  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

as  an  earth-born  creature  of  God,  can  see  and  under- 
stand— ^liis  divine  origin  and  liis  constant  dependence  on 
God — is  expressed  with  equal  clearness  and  vividness 
in  my  life,  my  thoughts,  and  aspirations ;  could  you  be 
brought  by  my  life,  my  thoughts,  my  views,  my  con- 
duct, my  deeds  and  words,  to  feel,  to  know,  and  to  see 
that  every  human  being  should  raise  himself  to  this 
knowledge  and  insight,  and  live  accordingly — a  knowl- 
edge and  insight  which  can  not  be  designated  more  ade- 
quately, purely,  and  worthily  than  by  the  relation  of 
father  and  son — you,  too,  would  rise  to  the  true  life, 
you  would  live  as  truly  and  eternally  as  God  and  I  live 
eternally,  you  would  tlius  through  me  receive  eternal 
life,  and  I  would  give  you  truly  eternal  Ufe." 

To  recognize  this,  and  to  apply  it  in  a  pure  human 
life,  is  Christian  religion. 

Christian  religrion  is  the  eternal  conviction  of  the 
truth  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  and  a  Urm,  persistent 
conduct  in  obedience  to  this  conviction  ;  it  is  the  con- 
viction that  the  truth  of  Christ's  teaching  confronts 
every  human  being,  wheresoever  he  may  turn  with  his 
spiritual  eyes  to  seek,  to  test,  to  examine,  to  inquire ; 
that  wheresoever  he  may  turn  he  will  be  confronted  by 
this  one  truth,  this  one  spirit ;  and  that,  as  man's  spirit- 
ual eye  sees  and  discerns  this  one  divine  truth — this 
one  divine  spirit  everywhere  in  endless  diversity — this 
spirit  would  afford  him  the  consolation  and  support 
which  he  needs  in  representing  that  truth  in  a  world 
where  the  cultivation  of  the  outer  sensual  eye  is  still  so 
far  in  advance  of  the  cultivation  of  the  inner  spiritual 
eye ;  where  the  knowledge  and  cultivation  of  the  outer 
man  is  still  so  far  in  advance  of  the  knowledge  and  cul- 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      I49 

tivation  of  the  inner  man.  Tims,  with  the  aid  of  this 
spirit,  he  may  rise  to  the  highest  knowledge,  not  alone 
of  man,  but  of  all  created  beings,  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
truth  that  the  infinite  is  revealed  in  the  finite,  the  eter- 
nal in  the  temporal,  the  celestial  in  the  terrestrial,  the 
living  in  the  dead,  the  divine  in  the  human. 

The  Christian  religion,  therefore,  is  the  clear  insight 
and  conviction,  firmly  and  eternally  self-grounded  and 
free  from  all  illusion — and  a  life  and  conduct  in  full 
harmony  and  perfect  accord  with  such  insight  and  con- 
viction— that  the  manifestation  and  revelation  of  the 
one,  eternal,  living,  self-existent  Being — of  God — must 
from  its  very  nature  be  triune :  that  God  manifests  and 
reveals  himseK  in  his  oneness  as  the  Creator,  Presei-ver, 
Ruler,  the  Father  of  all  things  ;  that  he  manifests  and 
reveals  himself,  has  manifested  and  revealed  himself, 
in  and  through  a  man  who  absorbed  his  whole  being  in 
himseK,  in  and  through  an  only  being  of  supreme  per- 
fection, who  was  therefore  his  Son,  his  only-begotten 
and  first-born  Son ;  that  in  all  the  diversity  of  created 
things,  in  all  things  that  are  and  move,  in  the  life  and 
spirit  of  all  things,  he  has  manifested  and  revealed  him- 
self, and  continues  without  interruption  to  manifest  and 
reveal  himself  as  the  One  Life  and  Spirit,  the  Spirit  of 
God ;  and  that  he  does  all  this  ever  as  the  One  Living 
God. 

Similarly  we  say,  humanly  speaking,  but  with  a  deep 
spiritual  meaning,  and  with  exhaustive  fullness  of  spir- 
itual truth :  The  spirit  of  the  peace,  of  the  order  and 
purity  of  this  family,  is  shown  in  every  single  thing  as 
well  as  in  the  whole  house.  Or,  again,  with  correct  and 
true  feeling :  The  spirit  of  the  father  is  seen  in  all  the 
12 


150  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

children,  and  in  the  whole  family.  Or,  in  higli  creative 
truth:  The  spirit  of  the  artist  is  manifest  in  all  his 
works,  as  well  as  in  each  individual  one.  Or,  with  cor- 
rect sense  and  feeling  of  truth :  It  is  a  living  expression 
of  himself. 

The  Christian  rehgion  carries  with  itself  the  eternal 
conviction  that  it  is  this  knowledge  which  leads  not  man 
alone,  but  all  created  beings  (i.  e.,  all  beings  that  have 
come  from  the  unity  of  God  into  an  individual  exist- 
ence), to  a  knowledge  of  their  existence,  to  the  fulfill- 
ment of  their  mission,  to  the  attainment  of  their  destiny ; 
and  that  every  individual  being — if  it  would  attain  its 
destiny — in  necessary  and  indispensable  obedience  to  its 
nature,  must  manifest  and  reveal  itseK  in  tliis  triune  way 
— in  and  as  unity,  in  and  as  individuality,  in  and  as 
manifoldness  in  ever-continuing  diversity  (see  §§  15, 18). 

The  truth  of  this  conviction  is  the  sole  foundation 
of  all  insight  and  knowledge.  It  is  the  only  test  of  our 
conduct.  It  is  the  foundation  of  all  religious  instruc- 
tion. The  knowledge  and  application  of  this  truth  en- 
ables us  to  recognize  nature  in  its  true  character,  as  the 
writing  and  book  of  God,  as  the  revelation  of  God. 

The  knowledge  of  this  truth  gives  a  language  to 
things  human  as  well  as  to  things  natural,  and  imparts 
true  significance  and  true  life  to  all  teaching  and  learn- 
ing, to  all  knowing  and  doing. 

Only  through  this  conviction  life  becomes  in  all  its 
phases  and  manifestations  a  self-contained  whole,  a  unit. 
This  knowledge  and  conviction  alone  render  genuine 
human  education  truly  possible. 

The  knowledge  of  this  truth,  the  insight  into  its  na- 
ture, brings  light  and  life,  and,  if  need  be,  consolation 


CHIEF  GROUPS   OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.     151 

find  support  in  all  circumstances ;  it  alone  gives  a  mean- 
ing and  a  purpose  to  life. 

Therefore,  Jesus  commanded  his  disciples :  "  Go  ye 
into  all  the  world  and  teach  all  nations "  ;  purify  and 
lead  them  to  the  knowledge  of  God  the  Father,  of  Jesus, 
the  Son  of  God,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  to  a  life 
in  accordance  with  this  knowledge  and  insight,  and  to 
all  insight  necessarily  proceeding  from  this. 

Therefore,  the  truth  of  the  threefold  manifestation 
and  revelation  of  the  One  God  is  the  corner-stone  of  the 
religion  which  suffices  all  men  in  all  zones,  and  which 
they  have  felt,  however  vaguely,  and  sought,  however 
unconsciously;  for  it  leads  man  in  the  spirit  and  in 
truth,  in  insight  and  life,  to  God  and  in  God. 

Every  human  being,  as  a  being  proceeding  from 
God,  existing  through  God  and  living  in  God,  should 
raise  himself  to  the  Christian  religion — the  religion  of 
Jesus.  Therefore,  the  school  should  first  of  all  teach 
the  religion  of  Christ ;  therefore,  it  should  first  of  all, 
and  above  all,  give  instruction  in  the  Christian  religion  ; 
everywhere,  and  in  all  zones,  the  school  should  instruct 
for  and  in  this  religion. 

B.  Natural  Science  and  Mathematics. 

%  62.  What  religion  says  and  expresses,  nature  says 
and  represents.  What  the  contemplation  of  God  teaches, 
nature  confirms.  What  is  deduced  from  the  contempla- 
tion of  tlie  inner,  is  made  manifest  by  the  contemplation 
of  the  outer.  What  religion  demands,  nature  fulfills. 
For  nature,  as  well  as  all  existing  things,  is  a  manifesta- 
tion, a  revelation,  of  God.     The  purpose  of  all  existence 


152  THE  EDUCATION  OF   MAN. 

is  the  revelation  of  God.  All  existing  things  are  only 
through  and  because  of  the  (divine)  essence  that  is  in 
them  (see  §  1). 

Everything  is  of  divine  nature,  of  divine  origin. 
Everything  is,  therefore,  relatively  a  unity,  as  God  is 
absohite  unity.  Everything,  therefore,  inasmuch  as  it 
is — though  only  relatively — a  unity,  manifests  its  nature 
only  in  and  through  a  triune  revelation  and  representa- 
tion of  itself,  and  these  only  in  and  through  continu- 
ously progressive,  hence  relatively  all-sided  development 
(see  §  61). 

This  truth  is  the  foundation  of  all  contemplation, 
knowledge,  and  comprehension  of  nature.  Without  it 
there  can  be  no  true,  genuine,  productive  investigation 
and  knowledge  of  nature.  Without  it  there  can  be  no 
true  contemplation  of  nature,  leading  to  insight  into  the 
essential  being  of  nature. 

Only  the  Christian,  only  the  human  being  with 
Christian  spirit,  life,  and  aspiration,  can  possibly  attain 
a  true  understanding  and  a  living  knowledge  of  nature ; 
only  such  a  one  can  be  a  genuine  naturalist.  True 
knowledge  of  nature  is  attainable  by  man  only  in  the 
measure  in  which  he  is — consciously  or  unconsciously, 
vaguely  or  distinctly — a  Christian,  i.  e.,  penetrated  with 
the  truth  of  the  one  divine  power  that  lives  and  works 
in  all  things ;  only  in  the  measure  in  which  he  is  filled 
with  the  one  living  divine  spirit  that  is  in  all  things  and 
to  which  he  himself  is  subject,  through  which  all  nature 
has  its  being,  and  by  which  he  is  enabled  to  see  this  one 
spirit  in  its  essential  being  and  in  its  unity  in  the  least 
phenomenon,  as  wdl  as  in  the  sum  of  all  natural  phe- 
nomena. 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      I53 

§  63.  The  relation  of  nature  to  God  may  be  truly 
and  clearly  perceived  and  recognized  by  man  in  the 
study  and  elucidation  of  the  innermost  spiritual  relation 
of  a  genuine  human  work  of  art  to  the  artist.  In  a  sec- 
ondary degree  it  may  be  perceived  and  recognized  in 
every  human  work  with  reference  to  the  human  being 
to  whom  it  owes  its  origin  (see  §  61). 

All  things  that  the  living  spirit  creates,  produces, 
and  represents  must  have  impressed  and  implanted  in 
them  the  nature  of  this  spirit,  must  bear  the  imprint  of 
the  seal  of  this  spirit  in  every  part  of  the  product. 

Absolutely  nothing  can  appear,  nothing  visible  and 
sensible  can  come  forth,  that  does  not  hold  within  itself 
the  living  spirit  j  that  does  not  bear  upon  its  surface  the 
imprint  of  the  living  spirit  of  the  being  by  whom  it  has 
been  produced,  and  to  whom  it  owes  its  existence.  And 
this  is  true  of  the  work  of  every  human  being — from 
the  highest  artist  to  the  meanest  laborer,  from  the  most 
material  to  the  most  spiritual  human  work,  from  the 
most  permanent  to  the  most  transient  human  activity — 
as  well  as  of  the  works  of  God  which  are  nature,  the 
creation,  and  all  created  things. 

A  keen,  critical  eye  can  discern  in  the  work  of  art 
the  artist's  powers  of  thought  and  feeling,  as  well  as 
their  state  of  cultivation ;  thus,  too,  the  creative  spirit  of 
God  may  be  discerned  in  his  works  (see  §  60). 

We  do  not  pay  suflScient  attention  to  this  fact 
in  human  works,  in  works  of  art ;  therefore,  it  is  so 
difficult  for  us  to  discern  it  in  nature,  in  the  work 
of  God. 

In  the  consideration  of  the  human  work  of  art  we 
do  not  concern  ourselves  sufficiently  with  the  innermost 


154:  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

spiritual  relation  of  the  artist  to  the  work ;  we  judge  its 
origin  too  mechanically  and  superficially.  We  do  not 
consider  sufficiently  that  these  works,  if  they  are  works 
of  high  art,  are  not  meant  to  be  art-masks,  but  are  al- 
ways representations  of  the  most  individual,  the  most 
personal  inner  life  of  the  artist;  for  this  reason  the 
genuine  spirit  of  the  art-work  and  the  spirit  of  nature 
are  equally  foreign,  equally  dead  to  us. 

Now,  as  the  work  of  man,  of  the  artist,  carries  within 
itseK  the  sj>irit  and  character^  the  life  and  essential  he- 
ing^  of  this  man,  and — as  we  say  in  human  metaphor 
exhaustively  and  most  significantly — breathes  out  this 
spirit  and  life,  and  as  the  human  being  who  produced 
it,  who  created  it,  as  it  were,  out  of  himself,  neverthe- 
less remains  the  same  undiminished  and  undivided  be- 
ing, and  is  even  strengthened  in  his  power  by  this  work, 
thus,  too,  the  spirit  and  being  of  God — although  the 
cause  and  source  of  all  existing  things,  and  although  all 
existing  things  carry  within  themselves  and  breatlie  the 
one  spirit  of  God — remain  nevertheless  in  themselves 
the  one  Being,  the  one  Spirit,  undiminished  and  un- 
divided. 

As  in  the  human  work  of  art  there  is  no  material 
part  of  the  artist's  spirit,  and  as  nevertheless  the  work 
of  art  as  such  carries  within  itself  the  whole  spirit  of  its 
artist  in  such  a  way  that  this  spirit  lives  in  this  work,  is 
expressed  by  it  and  exhaled  by  it,  is  even  breathed  by 
it  into  others,  where  it  may  live,  be  developed,  and  cul- 
tivated— as  the  spirit  of  man  is  thus  related  to  the  work 
produced  by  him,  so  is  the  spirit  of  God,  so  is  God,  re- 
lated to  nature  and  to  all  created  things.  The  spirit  of 
God  rests  in  nature,  lives  and  reigns  in  nature,  is  ex- 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.     155 

pressed  in  nature,  is  communicated  by  nature,  is  devel- 
oped and  cultivated  in  nature — ^yet  nature  is  not  the 
body  of  God. 

The  spirit  of  the  work  of  art,  the  spirit  to  which  the 
work  of  art  owes  its  existence,  is  the  one  and  undivided 
spirit  of  the  artist ;  but,  having  as  it  were  gone  forth 
from  the  artist,  it  now  lives  and  works  on  in  the  artist's 
work  as  an  independent  spirit,  yet  at  one  with  the  art- 
ist. Thus,  the  spirit  of  God,  having  gone  forth  from 
God,  lives  and  works  on  in  and  through  nature  as  an  in- 
dependent spirit,  yet  at  one  with  God. 

As  nature  is  not  the  body  of  God,  so,  too,  God  him- 
self does  not  dwell  in  nature  as  in  a  house  ;  but  the  spirit 
of  God  dwells  in  nature,  sustaining,  preserving,  foster- 
ing, and  developing  nature.  For  does  not  even  the 
spirit  of  the  artist,  though  but  a  human  spirit,  dwell  in 
his  work,  sustaining,  preserving,  fostering,  and  keeping 
it  ?  Does  not  even  the  spirit  of  the  artist  impart  earthly 
immortality,  as  it  were,  to  a  block  of  marble,  to  a  per- 
ishable piece  of  canvas — nay,  even  to  a  winged  and  fleet- 
ing word,  which  passes  away  at  the  moment  of  its  birth 
— indeed,  to  all  his  works,  be  he  musician,  poet,  painter, 
or  sculptor  ?  Does  he  not  endow  his  work  of  art,  as  he 
puts  it  forth  into  life,  with  the  choicest,  most  thought- 
ful care,  the  tenderest  keeping,  the  high  esteem  of  the 
most  exalted  human  minds  ? 

Who  can  fail  to  mark  the  lofty,  mighty  spirit  of  a 
true  human  work  of  art,  the  presence  at  once  supplicat- 
ing and  commanding  that  goes  forth  from  a  lofty,  pure 
work  of  art,  as  it  does  from  the  innocent  look  of  a  help- 
less child  ?  And  yet  it  is  but  the  work  of  a  human 
spirit ;  and  this  spirit  preserves  and  keeps  it,  however 


166  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

long  tlie  time  and  wide  the  space  that  separate  tlie  work 
from  the  artist. 

Toward  a  genuine  work  of  art — though  not,  indeed, 
toward  a  merely  mechanical  piece  of  work  with  w^hich 
thought  had  little  or  nothing  to  do — the  artist  feels  as 
does  a  father  who  dismisses  his  son  into  hfe :  he  gives 
him  words  and  thoughts  to  bless,  guard,  and  keep  him. 
To  the  true  artist  it  is  by  no  means  a  matter  of  indiffer- 
ence who  buys  his  work,  as  a  good  father  is  by  no  means 
indifferent  to  the  character  of  the  companions  of  his 
son.  Yet,  full  of  trust  and  confidence,  he  dismisses  his 
son  into  the  world ;  for  his  own  spirit  and  aspirations 
rest  upon  and  in  his  son.  Thus,  too,  the  artist's  charac- 
ter lives  and  breathes  wholly  in  his  work,  even  in  its 
least  and  smallest  parts,  in  every  line,  and  in  the  very 
mode  of  their  connections.  This  spirit  or  character, 
whose  lofty  nature  and  aspirations  the  artist  knows  in 
his  own  being,  fills  him  with  the  hope  that  it  will  keep 
his  work  of  art,  that  it  will  bring  his  work  to  human 
beings  who  will  receive  the  created  spirit  in  their  own 
lives,  and  will  develop  and  cultivate  it  there. 

The  work  of  art  is  external  to  man — no  material 
part,  not  a  drop  of  life-blood,  passes  from  him  to  his 
work — and  yet  man  sustains,  keeps,  and  preserves  it ; 
he  strives  to  keep  aw^ay  from  it  what  may  cause  it  the 
least  injury  now  and  in  time  to  come.  Man  feels  him- 
self to  be  one  with  his  work  of  art ;  how  much  more, 
then,  will  God  sustain,  keep,  and  preserve  his  work, 
which  is  nature,  and  keep  away  from  it  all  injury — for 
God  is  God,  and  man  is  only  man  ! 

Yet  the  artist,  in  whatever  direction,  remains  ever 
unalterably  and   independently  the   same   in  himself, 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS   OF  INSTRUCTION.      157 

though  all  his  works  perish  ;  so,  too,  God  remains  un- 
alterably the  same,  even  though  all  nature  perish. 

Nay,  the  human  work  of  art,  as  well  as  nature,  the 
divine  work  of  God,  may  externally  perish,  and  yet  the 
spirit  expressed,  revealed,  living  and  moving  in  it,  will 
continue  to  be  and  to  unfold  itself  evermore.  Indeed, 
it  gains  thereby  true  freedom,  and,  from  this  very  fact, 
is  revealed  more  clearly  and  vividly. 

Behold  the  ruins  of  perished  human  art-power !  be 
they  the  mighty  work  of  the  giant  strength  of  indi- 
viduals or  the  colossal  product  of  the  omnipotence  of 
the  intimate  union  of  many  for  one  purpose  which  is 
common  to  all,  and  which  each  one  of  the  workers, 
on  whatever  stage  of  insight,  holds  and  must  hold  as 
his  purpose — an  omnipotence  whose  existence  man- 
kind have  scarcely  felt  as  yet,  and  in  which  they  still 
less  believe.  Those  ruins  admonish  the  succeeding 
weaker  generations ;  and  the  generation  that  begins 
to  become  conscious  of  its  essential  nature  is  lifted 
in  confidence  and  courage  by  those  proofs  of  vanished, 
though  by  no  means  only  outer,  human  power  and 
greatness. 

Thus  the  colossal  remains  of  shattered  mountains 
and  mountain-chains  speak  of  the  greatness  of  the  spirit 
of  God,  of  the  greatness  of  God  ;  and  even  man  is  en- 
couraged, and  lifts  himself  up  by  them,  feeling  within 
himself  the  same  spirit  and  power.  Thus  the  slender 
ivy  climbs  up  on  the  mighty  rock,  and  gathers  from  it 
strength  and  food,  not  only  for  its  life,  but  also  for  its 
upward  growth. 

Thus  we  see  everywhere  the  same  living  and  deep, 
inner  and  spiritual,  pervading  and  sustaining  relations 


158  THE  EDUCATION  OF   MAN. 

between  man  and  the  work  of  art,  and  between  God  and 
nature. 

When  barbarians — ^rough,  unfeeling,  thoughtless  men 
— destroy  the  work  of  art,  or  even  the  slightest  vestige 
of  a  human  spirit  that  has  lived  and  worked  on  earth, 
the  noble,  sensitive  human  being  grieves  perhaps  even 
more  than  he  would  do  if  the  life  of  an  ordinary  living 
being  were  destroyed. 

For  does  not  even  the  work  of  man  imply  the  inde- 
pendent development  of  the  spirit  and  thought  it  holds  ? 
May  not  the  character  expressed  in  a  work  of  art  influ- 
ence entire  generations,  elevating  or,  on  the  other  hand, 
degrading  them  ?  And  yet  they  are  but  the  works  of 
man  that  may  do  this ;  what,  then,  may,  will,  and  must 
the  works  of  God  do ;  what  must  nature,  the  work  of 
God,  be  to  man  ? 

We  study  to  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  life  and 
aspirations,  etc.,  of  human  works ;  we  study  the  works 
of  man,  and  justly  so.  The  undeveloped,  maturing  hu- 
jman  being  should  profit  by  the  development  of  maturer 
jmen.  How  much  more,  then,  should  we  endeavor  to 
I  know  nature,  the  work  of  God,  to  acquaint  ourselves 
with  the  objects  of  nature  in  their  life,  their  signifi- 
cance, in  their  relation  to  the  spirit  of  God  ! 

This  is  indicated  to  us,  too,  in  the  fact  that  genuine 
works  of  human  art,  human  works  that  express  the  pure 
spirit  of  man,  which  is  also  the  spirit  of  God,  are  not 
easily  nor  always  readily  accessible  for  every  one,  and 
under  all  circumstances ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  man 
finds  himself  everywhere  surrounded  by  pure  works  of 
God,  by  works  of  nature  that  clearly  express  the  spirit 
of  God. 


CHIEF  GROUrS  OF  SUBJECTS   OF  INSTRUCTION.     159 

It  is  true,  we  can  find  and  recognize  God's  spirit 
through  and  in  the  human  spirit ;  but  it  is  difficult  to 
distinguish  in  each  particular  case  that  which  belongs 
to  humanity  in  general  from  that  which  belongs  to  the 
particular  human  being;  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish 
which  one  of  the  two  predominates,  and  which  one,  at 
any  particular  time,  is  acting.  On  the  other  hand,  with 
pure  works  of  nature,  the  natural  as  such  preponderates 
very  decidedly,  the  particular  characteristics  of  the  natu- 
ral object  are  by  far  less  prominent.  Thus  the  pure 
spirit  of  God  not  only  is  seen  more  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly in  nature  than  it  is  in  human  life,  but  in  the 
clear  disclosures  of  God's  spirit  in  nature  are  seen  the 
nature,  dignity,  and  holiness  of  man  reflected  in  all 
their  pristine  clearness  and  purity. 

Again,  man  sees  in  nature  not  only  general  princi- 
ples— as  has  been  previously  indicated — but  he  beholds 
therein  his  aspiration,  his  destiny,  his  mission,  the  ne- 
cessary conditions,  impediments,  and  phases  of  their 
attainment,  as  in  a  picture,  in  unmistakable  and  living 
characters,  expressing  not  the  notion,  but  the  thing, 
the  relation  itself.  Following  these  silent,  absolutely 
reliable,  outwardly  intelligible,  impersonal  teachers, 
man  may  not  only  learn  from  them  with  certainty  the 
thing  to  be  done  at  every  moment  of  life,  but,  acting  , 
accordingly,  he  will  surely  satisfy  the  demands  made) 
upon  him. 

/  Among  all  objects  of  nature,  none  seem  in  this  re- 
'spect  truer,  clearer,  more  complete,  and  yet  simpler — 
I  because  of  their  calm  thoughtful  aspect  and  the  clear  un- 
folding of  their  inner  life — than  plants,  especially  trees. 
They  are,  therefore,  rightly  distinguished  among  nat- 


160  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

ural  objects  as  trees  of  tlie  knowledge  of  good  and  evil, 
for  they  are  such  in  reality  ;  indeed,  they  were  so  con- 
sidered and  named  with  touching,  truthful,  and  deep 
significance,  on  the  very  iirst  appearance  of  self-con- 
sciousness in  the  human  race. 

The  observation  of  the  development  of  individual 
/  man  and  its  comparison  with  the  general  development 
of  the  human  race  show  plainly  that,  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  inner  life  of  the  individual  man,  the  history 
of  the  spiritual  development  of  the  race  is  repeated, 
and  that  the  race  in  its  totality  may  be  viewed  as  one 
human  being,  in  whom  there  will  be  found  the  neces- 
sary steps  in  the  development  of  individual  man  (see 
§§  15,  24).  Therefore,  not  only  may  we  learn  from  the 
trees,  from  the  life  of  a  tree,  the  phenomena  of  indi- 
vidual human  life,  but  we  may  lind  therein  the  phenom- 
ena of  the  development  of  the  race  in  their  necessary 
connection.  It  is  true,  in  their  full  distinctness,  free 
from  all  arbitrariness  and  triviality,  this  has  as  yet 
scarcely  been  shown,  yet  the  further  development  and 
cultivation  of  the  parables  of  Christ  may  lead  to  it 
(see  §  GQ). 

A  by  far  wider  application  might  be  given  to  this 
contemplation  of  nature  here  only  touched  upon,  were 
it  not  out  of  place  on  account  of  the  almost  complete 
ignorance  that  prevails  concerning  this  subject,  and 
were  it  not  founded  on  a  now  very  rare  mode  of  obser- 
vation of  external  natural  phenomena  and  of  the  devel- 
opment of  inner  life  in  ourselves. 

If  we  seek  the  inner  reason  for  this  high  symbolic 
meaning  of  the  different  individual  phenomena  of  na- 
ture, particularly  in  the  phases  of  development  of  natu- 


CHIEF   GROUPS   OF  SUBJECTS   OF  INSTRUCTION,      Id 

ral  objects  in  relation  to  the  stadia  of  human  develop- 
ment, we  find  it  in  the  fact  tliat  nature  and  man  have 
their  origin  in  one  and  the  same  eternal  Being,  and  that 
their  development  takes  place  in  accordance  with  the 
same  laws,  only  at  different  stages. 

Thus  the  observation  of  nature  and  the  observation 
of  man,  in  comparison  and  in  connection  wdth  the  facts 
and  phenomena  of  the  general  development  of  human- 
ity, are  mutually  explanatory,  and  mutually  lead  to 
deeper  knowledge  the  one  of  the  other.  A  clear  insight 
into  the  causative  and  creative  relation  of  the  human 
spirit  to  its  external  work  leads  also  to  a  clear  insight 
into  the  relation  of  the  causative,  creative  spirit  of  God 
to  nature  ;  leads  to  a  knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  finite  proceeds  from  the  infinite,  the  material  from 
the  spiritual,  nature  from  God.  Even  man,  although 
externally  a  finite  being,  does  not  always  need  his  arms 
and  hands  for  the  production  and  outward  representa- 
tion of  his  work  ;  more  frequently  his  will,  his  deter- 
mining look,  the  breath  of  his  word,  create  and  bring 
forth.  Even  man,  although  externally  finite,  can  bring 
forth  material  for  his  creations,  without  having  recourse 
to  material  existences. 

Whoever  wants  further  proof  for  this  need  only  pass 
in  review  the  whole  series  of  developments,  conditions, 
and  phenomena,  from  the  least  material,  innermost 
thought  to  the  most  definitely  formed,  most  material 
word  in  writing. 

Thus  man  may  know  and  understand  even  the  most 
difficult  process,  the  production  of  the  external  and  ma- 
terial from  the  inner  and  spiritual ;  may  know  and  un- 
derstand it — not  as  an  idea,  but  as  a  fact — in  the  pro- 


162  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

cesses  of  his  own  thinking  as  an  effect  and  consequence 
of  the  transformation  of  his  own  innermost  thought  into 
an  external  work,  an  outer  something. 

Therefore,  as  the  spirit  of  the  artist  is  in  the  work 
of  art,  so  is  the  spirit  of  God  in  nature.  As  the  work 
of  art  hves  and  moves  in  accordance  wdth  its  spirit  and 
related  to  its  maker,  so  nature,  born  from  God,  lives  and 
moves  in  accordance  with  its  spirit,  as  a  work  of  God, 
living  in  and  through  God,  and  breathing  the  spirit  of 
God,  related  to  God,  its  Maker,  and  in  inner  spiritual 
relation  to  man. 

As  the  world  of  art  is  the  invisibly-visible  *  revela- 
tion and  expression  of  the  spirit  of  man,  and  thus  be- 
comes an  invisibly- visible  kingdom  of  the  human  spirit, 
so,  too,  nature  is  the  invisiblj-visible  revelation  of  the 
spirit  of  God,  and  becomes  an  invisiblj-visible  kingdom 
of  God. 

§  64.  To  feel  the  presence  of  this  threefold  king- 
dom of  God  (the  visible,  the  invisible,  and  the  in- 
visibly-visible), to  acknowledge  it,  and  to  let  it  influ- 
ence life — this  alone  can  give  us  the  peace  which  we 
seek  within  and  without,  which  from  the  first  moment 
of  self-consciousness  we  are  driven  to  seek  and  to 
pursue,  even  at  the  expense  of  our  own  life,  of  our 
external  possessions,  of  our  external  welfare,  whatever 
its  name. 

For  this  reason  alone,  man — particularly  in  boyhood 
— should  become  intimate  with  nature,  not  so  much 
with  reference  to  the  details  and  the  outer  forms  of  her 
phenomena  as  with  reference  to  the  spirit  of  God  that 

*  WnsicMbar-sichthar  =  iny\s\h\y-y'isih\e,  i.  e.,  visible  to  the  mental, 
to  the  spiritual  eye,  though  invisible  to  the  physical  eye. — Tr. 


CHIEF   GROUPS   OF   SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      163 

lives  in  lier  and  rules  over  her.  Indeed,  the  boy  feels 
this  deeply,  and  demands  it ;  for  this  reason,  where  love 
of  nature  is  still  unimpaired,  nothing,  perhaps,  unites 
teachers  and  pupils  so  intimately  as  the  thoughtful  study 
of  nature,  and  of  the  objects  of  nature. 

Parents  and  school-teachers  should  remember  this, 
and  the  latter  should,  at  least  once  a  week,  take  a  walk 
with  each  class — not  driving  them  out  like  a  flock  of 
sheep,  nor  leading  them  out  like  a  company  of  soldiers, 
but  going  with  them  as  a  father  with  his  sons  or  aj 
brother  with  his  brothers,  and  acquainting  them  more 
fully  with  whatever  the  season  or  nature  offers  them 
(see  §  98). 

The  schoolmaster  who  lives  in  a  village  or  in  the 
country  should  not  object  to  this  request,  by  saying, 
"My  school-children  are  constantly  out-doors  anyhow, 
and  running  about  in  the  fields  and  forests."  They  are, 
indeed,  in  the  fields  and  forests,  but  they  do  not  live 
there ;  they  do  not  live  in  and  with  nature. 

Not  only  children  and  boys,  but  indeed  many  adults, 
fare  with  nature  and  her  character  as  ordinary  men  fare 
with  the  air.  They  live  in  it,  and  yet  scarcely  know  it 
as  something  distinct,  and  much  less  with  reference  to 
its  essential  properties  concerning  the  preservation  of 
his  life ;  for  ordinarily  the  name  air  is  given  merely  to 
the  currents  of  wind  or  to  their  temperature.* 

Therefore,  these  children  and  boys  who  spend  all 
their  time  in  the  fields  and  forests  see  and  feel  nothing 
of  the  beauties  of  nature,  and  of  their  influence  on  the 
human  heart.    They  are  like  the  people  who  have  grown 

*  This  has  reference  to  the  German  word  Luft  (air),  which  is  popularly 
used  for  Wind  (wind).—  Tr. 


164  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

up  in  a  very  beautiful  country,  and  who  have  no  idea  of 
its  beauty  and  its  spirit. 

Yet — and  this  is  the  essential  point — the  boy  may 
possibly  with  his  spiritual  eye  find,  see,  and  apprehend 
the  inner  life  of  surrounding  nature ;  but  he  fails  to  find 
the  same  feelings  among  adults  who  suppress  that  ger- 
minating inner  life  in  its  very  beginning. 

The  boy  seeks  from  adults  the  confirmation  of  his 
inner,  spiritual  anticipations,  and  justly  so,  from  an  in- 
tuitive sense  of  what  the  elder  ought  to  be,  from  respect 
for  the  elder.  If  he  fails  to  find  it,  a  double  effect  fol- 
lows—loss of  respect  for  the  elder,  and  a  recoil  of  the 
original  inner  anticipation. 

Therefore,  it  is  so  important  that  boys  and  adults 
should  go  into  the  fields  and  forests  together  striving  to 
receive  into  their  hearts  and  minds  the  life  and  spirit  of 
nature,  which  would  soon  put  an  end  to  the  idle,  use- 
less, and  indolent  loafing  of  so  many  boys. 

The  cruel  treatment  of  insects  and  other  animals  in 
which,  particularly,  young  boys  engage  good-naturedly 
and  with  no  evil  intention — though  this  does  not  apply 
to  cruelty  as  such — originates  in  the  little  boy's  desire 
to  obtain  an  insight  into  the  inner  life  of  the  animal, 
to  get  at  its  spirit.  But  failure  to  explain  or  to  guide, 
as  well  as  false  interpretation  or  guidance,  or  the 
misunderstanding  of  this  desire,  may  at  a  later  period 
develop  in  such  boys  hardened  intentional  cruelty  to 
animals. 

§  65.  Such  are  the  character  and  influence  of  nature 
as  a  whole,  such  are  the  character  and  influence  of  na- 
ture as  the  image  and  work  of  God,  as  the  word  of  God, 
revealing,  communicating,  and  awakening  the  spirit  of 


CUIEF   GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      1^5 

God  in  and  by  its  integrity ;  as  such,  nature  presents 
herself  to  inner  contemplation. 

Quite  differently,  however,  she  presents  herself  to 
ordinary  outer  contemplation.  To  this  she  appears  as  a 
diversity  of  many  different  and  separate  individualities 
without  definite,  inner,  living  connection ;  individuali- 
ties each  of  which  has  its  own  peculiar  form,  peculiar 
development,  peculiar  absolute  purpose;  without  any 
indication  that  these  externally  distinct  and  separate  in- 
dividualities are  organically  united  members  of  one  great 
living  organism,  of  one  great  intrinsically  and  spiritually 
coherent  whole ;  without  any  indication  that  nature  is 
such  a  whole. 

§  66.  This  external  view  of  nature,  based  on  partic- 
ular natural  phenomena,  on  particular  natural  objects 
seen  in  their  separation,  is  like  the  external  view  of  a 
large  tree,  or  of  any  complex  plant,  in  which  each  leaf 
seems  to  be  strictly  separate  from  the  others.  Here, 
too,  there  seems  to  be  no  bridge,  no  inner  connection 
among  the  leaves  and  twigs,  nor  in  the  little  blossom 
between  the  calyx  and  corolla,  and  between  this  and  the 
stamens  and  pistils.  But  here,  too,  when  in  thoughtful 
search  the  spiritual  eye  seeks  and  finds  the  common 
bond  among  the  nearest  particulars,  and  proceeds  from 
every  new-found  unity  to  a  higher  and  the  highest  unity, 
it  is  at  last  recognized  as  an  external  manifestation  of  an 
inner  law  acting  deep  in  the  very  heart  of  the  plant. 

That  external  view  of  nature  in  her  particulars  re- 
sembles the  external  view  of  the  starry  sky,  in  which 
only  by  means  of  arbitrary  lines  particular  stars  are 
gathered  into  larger  groups,  and  whose  inner  connection 
even  the  keenest,  clearest,  and  most  fully  developed 
13 


166  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

spiritual  eye  can  appreliend  only  in  the  union  of  smaller 
world-groups  into  ever  larger  ones. 

In  this  usual,  merely  external,  view  of  nature,  the 
particulars  of  the  distinct  and  separate  natural  objects 
appear  not  so  much  as  the  products  of  one  and  the  same 
existence,  but  rather  as  the  products  of  diiferent  active 
forces.  But  this  can  not  satisfy,  even  in  boyhood,  the 
mind  a,nd  spirit  of  man,  in  itself  one  and  undivided. 

§  67.  Therefore  at  an  early  period,  even  in  boy- 
hood, man  seeks  unity  and  union  for  this  externally  sep- 
arate diversity  and  individuality  among  objects ;  seeks 
unity  and  union  in  a  separation  which  in  obedience  to  a 
necessary  law  of  inner  development  presents  things  out- 
wardly in  apparently  confused  heaps.  His  mind  is  con- 
tented when  he  begins  to  apprehend  this  unity  and 
union,  but  only  later  on,  when  he  has  found  it,  is  his 
spirit  fully  satislied. 

But  a  review  of  the  diversities  in  the  particulars 
of  a  plant  leads  to  the  recognition  of  deep-laid  law  dis- 
cernible only  for  the  spiritual  eye.  Similarly  the  pa- 
tient following  of  this  diversity  itself  leads  to  the  recog- 
nition, too,  of  the  external  unity  among  the  diversities 
and  individualities  of  nature ;  for,  however  great  the  pe- 
culiarities, diiferences,  and  degrees  of  separation  among 
natural  objects,  the  peculiar  nature  and  appearance,  the 
structure  and  form  of  each  thing,  are  always  found  to  rest 
ultimately  upon  the  nature  of  force^  as  the  connecting 
unit  from  which  all  individuality  and  diversity  proceed. 
JS'ow  force,  from  its  very  nature,  is  seK-existent,  pro- 
ceeds from  itself  by  its  own  activity  as  its  own  outward 
manifestation ;  therefore,  active  force  is  the  ultimate 
cause  of  all  things,  of  every  phenomenon  in  nature. 


CHIEF  GROUPS   OF  SUBJECTS   OF  INSTRUCTIOX.      167 

Tlie  contemplation  of  the  essence  of  force— in  its 
manifestations  as  divine  power  as  well  as  in  its  activity 
in  our  own  minds  and  life — will  enable  us,  too,  to  appre- 
hend and  understand  nature  in  her  numberless  forms 
and  structures,  in  her  living  inner  affinities  and  develop- 
ments, as  well  as  in  her  external  relations  and  deduc- 
tions. Man  is  urged  to  contemplate  the  inner  essence 
of  force  by  the  desire  and  hope  of  finding  thereby  the 
outer  unity  of  the  particular  facts  of  nature,  of  the  vari- 
ous forms  and  shapes  of  nature. 

[Similarly  Herbert  Spencer  declares  force  to  be  the  ultimate  of 
ultimates,  and  looks  upon  space,  time,  matter,  and  motion  as  "  either 
built  up  of,  or  abstracted  from,  experiences  of  force." — Tr.] 

§  68.  Force,  as  such,  is  a  spontaneous  energy  equally 
active  in  all  directions,  proceeding  either  from  absolute 
unity  or  from  some  relative  unity,  but  always  from  a 
unity.  At  the  same  time,  the  nature  of  force  necessarily 
implies  the  coexistence  and  simultaneousness  of  action 
and  reaction. 

Individual  and  varied  existence  as  such,  however, 
postulates  necessarily  a  second,  external  condition  or 
form  and  structure,  viz.,  matter.  It  shows  how  all 
eartlily  and  natural  structure  and  form  are  born  from 
matter  which  is  the  same  everywhere,  in  every  respec^ 
even  in  the  smallest  details  of  cohesion  and  constitu- 
tion, subject  to  the  same  laws,  and  therefore  outwardly 
infinitely  mobile  in  its  minutest  parts ;  and  all  this  be- 
cause of  the  everywhere  equally  diffused  indwelling 
force,  because  of  the  external  infiuence  of  the  sun  and 
of  light  and  heat,  in  obedience  to  the  all-pervading  great 
law  of  nature,  according  to  which  the  general  gives  rise 
to  the  particular. 


168  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

I  All  individuality  and  diversity  of  earthly  and  nat- 
f  ural  objects,  as  well  as  all  inner  contemplation  of  nature, 
show  that  force  and  matter  are  in  themselves  insepa- 
rably one. 

Matter  and  spontaneous  force  proceeding  from  a 
point  with  equal  activity  in  all  directions  mutually  con- 
dition each  other:  neither  exists  without  the  other, 
neither  can  exist  without  the  other ;  nay,  strictly  speak- 
ing, it  is  impossible  to  think  one  without  the  other. 

The  reason  for  the  infinite  mobility  of  matter  in  its 
minutest  parts  lies  in  the  original  spherical  tendency  of 
the  indwelHng  force,  in  the  original  tendency  of  force, 
spontaneously  proceeding  from  a  point,  to  diffuse  equally 
in  all  directions. 

§  69.  JSTow,  since  force  develops  and  diffuses  itself 
in  all  directions  equally,  freely,  and  unimpeded,  its  out- 
ward manifestation,  its  material  resultant,  is  a  sphere. 
For  this  reason  the  spherical  or,  in  general,  the  round 
form  is  most  commonly  the  fii-st  and  the  last  form  of 
things  in  nature  :  e.  g.,  the  great  heavenly  bodies,  such 
as  the  suns,  planets,  and  moons,  water  and  all  liquids, 
the  air  and  all  gases,  and  even  the  dust. 

In  all  the  diversity  and  amid  the  apparently  most  in- 
compatible differences  of  earthly  and  natural  structures, 
the  sphere  seems  to  be  the  primitive  form,  the  unity 
from  which  all  earthly  and  natural  forms  and  structures 
are  derived.  Hence,  too,  the  sphere  resembles  none  of 
the  other  natural  forms,  and  yet  essentially  contains  the 
possibility  and  the  law  of  all  of  them  ;  it  is,  at  the  same 
time,  formless  and  the  most  perfect  form. 

Neither  point  nor  line,  neither  plane  nor  side,  can  be 
discerned  on  its  surface  ;  yet  it  is  all-pointed  and  all- 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      169 

sided,  contains  all  the  points  and  all  the  lines,  etc.,  of 
all  earthly  structures  and  forms,  not  in  their  possibility 
alone,  but  even  in  their  actuality. 

Therefore,  all  structures  of  the  living,  active,  effect- 
ive objects  of  nature  rest  primarily  on  the  law  of  sphe- 
ricity, underlying  the  structure  of  the  sphere ;  rest 
primarily — starting  from  the  conception  of  the  inner 
essence  of  force,  and  viewing  them  as  products  of  force 
— on  the  necessary  tendency  of  force  to  represent  in 
and  through  matter  the  spherical  nature  of  force,  the 
nature  of  the  sphere  in  all  possible  forms  and  structures, 
varieties,  and  combinations.  For  in  and  with  the  spon- 
taneous, spherical  action  of  the  force  as  a  natural  and 
earthly  phenomenon,  and  as  such  united  with  matter, 
there  is  implied  at  the  same  time  an  inward  swelling 
and  surging,  measuring  and  weighing  tendency — caus- 
ing differences  in  the  effect  and  tension  of  the  force  in 
the  different  directions. 

[How  much  Proebel  was  impressed  with  the  significance  of  the 
sphere  as  a  symbol  of  unity  of  life  is  shown  in  the  following  extract 
from  "  Aphorisms,"  written  down  in  1821 :  *'  The  spherical  is  the 
symbol  of  diversity  in  unity  and  of  unity  in  diversity.  The  spheri- 
cal is  the  representation  of  diversity  developed  from  the  unity  on 
which  it  depends,  as  well  as  the  representation  of  the  reference  of  all 
diversity  to  its  unity.  The  spherical  is  the  general  and  the  particu- 
lar, the  universal  and  the  individual,  unity  and  individuality  at  the 
same  time.  It  is  infinite  development,  and  absolute  limitation ;  it 
connects  perfection  and  imperfection.  All  things  unfold  their 
spherical  nature  perfectly  only  by  representing  their  nature  in  their 
unity — in  some  individuality,  and  in  some  diversity.  The  law  of  the 
spherical  is  the  fundamental  law  of  all  true  and  adequate  human 
culture." — Tr.] 

The  differences  in  the  quantity  and  intensity  of  the 
effect  of  the  force  in  different  directions — differences 


170  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

whicli  in  accordance  with  their  nature  mnst  appear 
simultaneously  in  force  and  in  matter — this  fixed  preva- 
lence of  the  effect  of  the  force  in  certain  directions — 
this  fixed,  peculiar  relation  among  the  different  direc- 
tions  of  the  force — this  difference  of  tension  in  the  dif- 
ferent directions,  and  the  corresponding  and  simultane- 
ous difference  in  the  individualization  of  matter — must, 
as  a  fundamental  quality  of  the  mass  of  matter  as  a 
whole,  dwell  in  the  same  measure  in  each  and  every 
smallest  particle  of  that  mass. 

This  peculiar  relation  and  inner  law  of  the  efiicient 
force  constitute,  in  every  particular  case,  the  essential 
cause  of  the  form  and  structure  in  question. 

The  differences  of  direction  and  intensity  in  the 
action  of  the  forces,  these  differences  of  tension  and  the 
resulting  easy  divisibility  of  matter,  these  planes  and 
directions  of  tension,  contain  the  fundamental  law  of 
all  forms  and  structures.  Their  clear  conception  affords 
the  possibility  of  seeing  them  in  their  nature,  relations, 
and  combinations. 

Now,  as  each  thing  can  manifest  itself  completely 
only  by  representing  its  being  in  unity,  individuahty, 
and  diversity,  or  in  the  indispensable  triune  way  (see  § 
61),  the  essential  nature  of  force,  too,  is  shown  completely 
and  perfectly  only  in  such  a  triune  representation  of  its 
being  by  and  in  form.  This  implies,  at  the  same  time, 
two  other  tendencies  of  nature :  the  tendency  to  repre- 
sent the  particular  in  the  general,  and  the  general  in 
the  particular ;  and  the  tendency  to  make  the  internal 
external,  the  external  internal,  and  to  represent  the  two 
in  unity  (to  unify  the  two). 

All  individual  forms  in  nature,  in  all  their  diversity, 


CHIEF   GROUPS   OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      171 

have  their  origin  in  this  triune  representation  bj  means 
of  matter  and  through  form,  of  force  in  union  with 
those  general  tendencies  of  nature. 

§  70.  Furthermore,  however,  one  and  the  same  force 
acts  in  one  and  the  same  material,  either  particularizing 
in  many  individual  phenomena  or  undivided  and  in 
general ;  or  within  the  limits  of  its  formative  law  its  ac- 
tion predominates  in  the  direction  of  one  of  the  dimen- 
sions— height,  length,  or  breadth — producing  a  number 
of  variations  of  crystalline  form,  such  as  the  fibrous,  the 
radiate,  the  granular,  the  laminate,  the  foliate,  needle- 
shaped,  etc.  The  former  is  due  to  the  fact  that  as 
many  particles  of  the  material  as  possible  in  a  relatively 
large  mass  tend  to  represent  their  formative  law,  but 
are  reciprocally  hindered  by  their  very  mass  in  the  de- 
velopment and  completion  of  their  crystals.  The  latter 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  representation  of  the  law  of 
formation  is  greater  in  certain  dimensions  than  it  is  in 
the  rest. 

The  pure  and  perfect  crystal,  which  represents  even 
in  its  outward  form  the  relative  intensity  in  the  differ- 
ent directions  of  the  inner  force,  is  formed  when  all  the 
individual  particles  and  all  the  individual  points  of  the 
active  force  subject  themselves  to  the  higher  law  of  a 
common  requirement  and  of  the  integral  representation 
of  the  law  of  formation,  a  higher  law  which,  though  it 
may  hamper  and  fetter  individual  particles  or  points, 
yet  yields  the  greater,  perfectly  formed  product. 

The  crystalline  is  the  first  phase  of  earthly  forma- 
tion. Action  and  reaction  and  their  simultaneousness, 
which  belong  to  the  essential  nature  of  force,  give  rise 
to  a  tendency  toward  predominance  of  the  force  in  cer- 


172  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

tain  directions,  and  to  a  reciprocal  hindrance  and  ten-' 
sion  e7en  in  the  minutest   parts,  and  consequently  to 
the  most  sharply  defined  relations  of  tension  in  the  ma- 
terial in  all  directions,  and  thereby  to  greater  or  smaller 
divisibility  in  these  planes  and  lines  of  tension. 

Therefore,  the  first  crystals  must  of  necessity  have 
rectilinear  outlines ;  nay,  in  the  first  appearance  of  the 
crystalline,  there  must  be  evidence  of  resistance  to  the 
common  subordination  under  the  fixed  law  of  a  definite 
crystal — resistance  to  its  perfect  representation.  Simi- 
larly, crystals  in  which  the  force  acts  unequally  in  dif- 
ferent directions  must  appear  earlier  than  those  in  which 
the  force  acts  equally  in  different  directions ;  hence  the 
external  result  will  not  be  an  all-sidedly  equilateral  crys- 
tal— as  would  be  indicated  by  the  essential  nature  of  the 
force — but  solid  forms  not  in  conformity  with  this  all- 
sided  equal  activity  of  the  force.  Again,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  essential  nature  of  force  in  its  external 
manifestation  of  crystallization  ascends  from  the  un- 
equilateral  to  the  simplest  equilateral  forms ;  while,  at 
the  same  time,  the  essential  nature  of  the  force  as  such 
for  the  purpose  of  outward  representation  descends, 
from  unity  and  all-sidedness,  to  individuality  and  one- 
sidedness. 

If  we  now  seek  to  recognize  and  represent  this  de- 
scent in  the  essential  nature  of  the  force  from  unity  to 
individuality,  we  shall  see  nature  at  this  stage,  both  in 
her  inner  tendency  and  her  outer  manifestations,  in  all 
her  individuality  and  one-sidedness,  but  also  in  her  unity 
and  all-sidedness. 

[Froebel's  interest  in  crystallography  was  aroused  by  the  lect- 
ures of  Professor  Weiss  at  Berlin  in  1812.     He  saw  in  it  the  possi- 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      173 

bility  of  direct  jpvoot  of  the  inner  connection  of  all  things.  After 
the  campaign  of  1813  against  Napoleon,  he  returned  at  once  to  this 
study,  and  was  fortunate  enough  to  secure  the  position  of  assistant 
to  Professor  Weiss  in  the  Royal  Museum  of  Natural  History.  He 
writes  concerning  this  period  :  "  What  I  had  seen  in  so  many  ways  in 
the  great  universe,  in  the  life  of  men,  in  the  development  of  human- 
ity, I  saw  here  again  in  the  smallest  crystal.  I  saw  it  clearly,  that 
the  divine  is  not  only  in  the  greatest,  it  is  also  in  the  most  minute 
things ;  in  full  abundance  and  power  it  is  even  in  the  least  thing. 
Thus  my  earths  and  crystals  became  to  me  a  mirror  of  the  develop- 
ment and  history  of  mankind."  However,  he  was  much  disconcerted 
by  the  multiplicity  of  fundamental  forms  as  taught  in  this  science ; 
and  he  busied  himself  much  with  efforts  to  reduce  all  forms  to  one — 
probably  the  cube.  The  results  of  these  efforts  appear  in  the  follow- 
ing paragraphs,  and,  although  not  accepted  by  the  mineralogical 
science  of  the  day,  stand  as  a  remarkable  monument  of  Froebel's 
faith  in  the  principle  of  liie-unity. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen  he  exclaims,  "  The  world 
of  crystals  proclaimed  to  me,  in  distinct  and  unequivocal  terms,  the 
laws  of  human  life."  His  genius,  however,  urged  and  forced  him 
away  from  stones  to  rrien,  and,  sacrificing  everything,  refusing  even 
a  professorship  of  mineralogy,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  work  of 
education. — Tr.] 

§  71.  In  the  entire  process  of  the  development  of  the 
crystal,  as  it  is  found  in  natural  objects,  there  is  a  highly 
remarkable  agreement  with  the  development  of  the  hu- 
man mind  and  of  the  human  heart.  Man,  too,  in  his 
external  manifestation — like  the  crystal — bearing  within 
himself  the  living  unity,  shows  at  first  more  one-sided- 
ness,  individuality,  and  incompleteness,  and  only  at  a 
later  period  rises  to  all-sidedness,  harmony,  and  com- 
pleteness. 

Like  all  similar  facts,  this  analogy  in  the  develop- 
ment of  nature  and  of  man  is  very  important  for  the 
purposes  of  self-knowledge  and  of  the  education  of  self 
and  others ;  it  throws  light  and  clearness  upon  human 


174  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

development  and  education,  and  gives  firmness  and  snre- 
ness  of  action  in  their  various  requirements. 

Like  the  world  of  the  heart  and  mind,  the  world  of 
crystals  is  a  glorious,  instructive  world.  What  the  spir- 
itual eye  there  beholds  inwardly,  it  here  sees  outwardly. 

§  72.  Every  crystallogenic  force  that  manifests  itself 
in  and  through  formative  and  externalizing  processes 
proceeds  from  a  center,  simultaneously  tending  in  op- 
posite directions.  By  its  very  nature,  therefore,  it  im- 
poses limits  upon  itself,  is  all-sided,  radiating,  rectilinear, 
and,  hence,  necessarily  spherical  in  its  operation. 

]N'ow,  such  a  force,  operating  without  hindrance, 
will  necessarily  act  bilaterally  in  any  one  direction  ; 
and  in  the  totality  of  all  directions  there  will  always  be, 
starting  in  any  direction  from  the  center,  sets  of  three 
such  bilateral  directions,  perpendicular  to  one  another, 
in  the  fullest  equilibrium  of  independence  and  interde- 
pendence. 

Again,  on  account  of  the  limitations  lying  in  the 
force  itself,  among  all  these  sets  of  three  bilateral  direc- 
tions, three  exclusively  predominate  and  appear  wholly 
distinct  from  all  others.  Even  the  most  abstract  view 
of  force  will  lead  to  this  distinction  and  predominance, 
because  they  lie  equally  in  the  nature  of  force  and  in 
the  law  of  human  mental  activity.  The  result  of  the 
predominance  of  these  three  bilateral,  perpendicular 
directions,  which  equally  control  and  determine  all  other 
directions,  must  be  a  crystal  limited  by  straight  lines 
and  planes,  revealing  in  every  part  the  inner  nature 
and  action  of  the  force ;  it  can  be  only  a  cube,  a  regular 
hexahedron. 

Each  of  the  eight  comers  shows  the  perpendicularity 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.     I75 

of  the  three  bilateral  directions  at  the  center,  and  thus 
indicates  externally  the  center  of  the  cube.  Similarly 
the  three  sets  of  four  parallel  edges  show  each  of  the 
inner  directions  fourfold.  The  six  faces  mark  in  their 
centers  the  six  terminal  points  of  the  three  bilateral  di- 
rections, and  determine  the  invisible  center  of  the  cube. 

In  the  cube  the  tendency  of  the  force  toward  spheri- 
cal representation  is  in  a  state  of  highest  tension.  In- 
stead of  all-sidedness  we  have  particular-sidedness  of 
faces,  corners,  and  edges ;  and  these  few  points  (corners), 
lines  (edges),  and  planes  (faces),  subordinate  and  control 
all  others.  There  appears,  too,  the  tendency  of  the 
force  to  represent  itself,  not  only  in  corporeal  space,  but 
also  in  each  of  the  possible  particular  phases  of  space — 
as  a  point  and  in  points,  as  a  line  and  in  lines,  as  a  plane 
and  in  planes.  This,  again,  necessarily  reveals  the  tend- 
ency of  the  force  to  derive  the  line  and  the  'plane  from 
the  pointy  to  represent  the  point  as  a  line  and  as  a  plane^ 
the  line  as  a  point  and  as  a  plane^  to  contract  the  line 
into  a  point  and  to  expand  it  into  a  plane,  etc. 

We  meet  this  effect  of  force,  henceforth,  at  every 
step  of  the  study  of  crystal  forms ;  indeed,  the  opera 
tion  of  crystallogenic  force  seems  to  be  limited  to  this, 
and  all  crystals  seem  to  owe  their  characteristics  exclu- 
sively to  this  tendency.  Indeed,  this  must  be  so  ;  it  ie 
the  first  general  manifestation  of  the  great  natural  law? 
and  tendencies  to  represent  each  thing  in  unity,  indi- 
viduality, and  diversity  ;  to  generalize  the  most  particu- 
lar,  and  to  represent  the  most  general  in  the  most  par- 
ticular ;  and,  lastly,  to  make  the  internal  external,  the 
external  internal,  and  to  represent  both  in  harmony 
and  union. 


176  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

If,  at  the  same  time,  we  keep  in  mind  that  man,  too, 
is  almost  wholly  subject  to  these  great  laws,  that  almost 
all  the  phenomena  and  events  of  his  life  are  based  on 
them,  these  considerations  will  reveal  to  us  also  the  na- 
ture of  man,  and  teach  us  how  to  develop  and  educate 
him  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  his 
being. 

Let  us  now  pass  from  the  study  of  the  cube  to  the 
study  and  development  of  the  remaining  crystal  forms. 
The  corners  of  the  cube  will  tend  to  become  planes,  the 
faces  will  tend  to  represent  themselves  as  points  ;  more 
especially,  the  six  directions  lying  about  the  center  and, 
typically,  in  the  six  sides  of  the  cube  will  tend  to  be- 
come externally  visible  as  edges.  The  result  of  this  is 
a  crystal  which  has  as  many  faces  or  sides  as  the  cube 
has  comers,  as  many  comers  as  the  cube  has  sides,  and 
as  many  edges  as  the  cube — viz.,  a  regular  octahedron. 
In  this  form,  again,  many  things  that  lie  invisibly  in 
the  interior  appear  outwardly,  either  directly  or  typi- 
cally visible,  but  the  explanations  given  in  the  study  of 
the  cube  must  suffice  to  indicate  how  these  things  may 
be  found. 

The  three- times-two  perpendicular  principal  direc- 
tions (three  bilateral  directions)  appear  externally  in  the 
cube  as  three-times-two  sides  or  planes,  in  the  octahedron 
as  three-tiraes-two  corners  or  points :  there  must  be  yet 
another  crystal  form  in  which  they  appear  as  three- 
times-two  edges  or  lines.  In  the  cube  the  six  terminal 
points  of  the  three  perpendicular  bilateral  directions  of 
the  force  appeared  as  six  sides  or  jplanes,  in  the  octa- 
hedron they  appeared  as  corners  or  points :  there  must 
be  another  solid  in  which  they  appear  as  edges  or  lines, 


CHIEF   GKOUPS  OF  SUBJECTS   OF  INSTRUCTION.      1Y7 

and  this  is  the  regular  tetrahedron.  Its  nature  is  suffi- 
ciently determined  by  comparison  with  the  cube  and 
octahedron,  and  the  interior  phases  expressed  in  its 
external  appearance  are  easily  found  with  the  help  of 
the  hints  given  in  the  study  of  the  cube. 

[This  is  illustrated  in  the  following  figures :  Fig.  1  indicates  the 
three  pairs  of  opposite  directions  (three  bilateral  directions)  in  which 
the  force  operates,  constituting  the  three  axes  of  the  cube  (Fig.  2), 


i/ 


KiS.  1 


A  1 

/ 

1           1     / 

i  >*'  i 

/ 

Kis-  S 


Fig.  3 


Fig.  4 


the  octahedron  (Fig.  3),  and  the  tetrahedron  (Fig.  4).  In  Fig.  2  the 
axes  terminate  in  faces  ;  in  Fig.  3  they  terminate  in  points  (corners) ; 
and  in  Fig.  4  the  terminal  points  of  one  axis  lie  in  edges. — Tr.'\ 

Thus  the  study  of  the  necessary  results  of  the  force 
acting  spherically,  and  manifesting  itself  in  material 
crystallization,  has  revealed  to  us  three  bodies,  bounded 
by  straight  lines  and  planes,  of  which  the  cube  is  the 
first,  and,  as  it  were,  the  central  one,  and  the  tetrahedron 
and  octahedron  the  two  derived  bodies. 


178  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

If,  now,  we  survey  the 

CUBE,   OCTAHEDEOIT,   AND   TETRAHEDRON" 

in  theiv  natural  position,  as  shown  in  our  deduction, 
we  again  behold,  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  course  of 
our  study,  and  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  oft- 
repeated  law  of  nature,  that  the  cuhe  rests  on  a  plane, 
the  octahedron  on  a  point,  and  the  tetrahedron  on  a 
Ime  I  and  in  each  of  the  three  solids  the  axis  of  devel- 
opment coincides  wholly  with  one  of  the  three  recipro- 
cally perpendicular  principal  directions. 

If,  then,  we  consider  each  of  these  three  solids  as 
wholly  independent  and  fixed,  each  left  to  itself,  seek- 
ing a  point  of  rest  and  support,  we  find  tlie  cube 
always  symmetrically  and  permanently  resting  on  one 
of  its  faces,  and  the  axis  permanently  coinciding  with 
one  of  its  principal  directions.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  octahedron  and  tetrahedron  will  fall.  Thereby 
one  of  the  sides  will  become  ^ its  base,  and  at  the 
same  time  both  solids  exhibit  a  new  property  quite 
peculiar  to  them :  the  axis,  the  vertical  or  median  line 
of  the  solid,  does  not  coincide  with  any  of  the  three 
principal  directions,  but  stands  at  equal  angles  between 
them. 

Now,  inasmuch  as  the  nature  of  the  octahedron 
and  tetrahedron  lies  in  the  nature  of  the  cube,  and  inas- 
much as  the  forms  of  the  octahedron  and  tetrahedron 
are  deducible  from  that  of  the  cube,  the  property  which 
permits  the  axis  or  vertical  line  to  fall  at  equal  angles 
between  the  three  perpendicular  principal  directions, 
must  lie  already  in  the  cube.  Indeed,  it  is  a  direct  re- 
sult of  the  operation  of  the  law  of  equilibrium  ;  for  the 


CHIEF   GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS   OF   INSTRUCTION.      179 

falling  of  the  octaliedron  or  tetrahedron,  by  which  the 
axis  or  vertical  line  is  brought  at  equal  angles  between 
the  principal  directions,  when  transferred  to  the  cube, 
will  necessarily  cause  the  latter  to  rise  correspondingly. 
This  will  make  the  cube  seem  to  rest  on  one  of  its  cor- 
ners, so  that  the  vertical  line  or  axis  passes  now  from 
one  of  these  corners  through  the  center  to  the  opposite 
corner,  no  longer  coinciding  with  one  of  the  principal 
directions,  but  falling  at  equal  angles  between  them. 
By  this  change  in  the  position  of  the  axis,  the  cube  has 
been  wholly  changed  internally^  and  presents  exter- 
nally^ too,  a  wholly  changed  appearance,  an  entirely 
new  form.  In  its  former  position  the  sides  seemed 
grouped  in  sets  of  two,  and  the  corners  and  edges  in 
sets  of  two  or  four,  everything  seemed  to  be  arranged 
in  the  order  of  the  even  numbers,  two  and  four  ;  now 
everything  seems  grouped  in  sets  of  three — three  sides, 
three  edges,  three  comers. 

Instead  of  the  number  two^  we  have  now  the  num- 
ber three^  and  a  wholly  new  series  of  crystal  forms 
seems  thereby  given  and  determined.  However,  the 
study  and  development  of  these  must  be  postponed  for 
the  further  study  and  development  of  the  crystal  forms 
with  three  among  themselves  wholly  perpendicular  prin- 
cipal directions. 

In  itself  and  in  the  crystal  forms,  force  manifests 
the  tendency  to  expand  corners  into  edges  or  sides; 
the  tendency  to  contract  edges  into  corners  or  to  ex- 
pand them  into  sides ;  the  tendency  to  represent  sides 
as  edges  and  corners  ;  the  tendency  to  render  externally 
visible  inner  concealed  and  invisible  as  well  as  outer 
typical  directions,  points,  lines,  and  planes  ;  the  tend- 


180  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

ency  to  represent  externally  in  the  crystal  forms  the 
inner,  spherical  nature  of  force  on  all  sides  equally 
energetic ;  the  tendency  to  reach  again  the  spherical 
form  in  and  through  these  crystal  forms.  Accordingly, 
starting  from  the  cube,  the  octahedron,  and  the  tetrahe- 
dron, three  series  of  crystal  forms  are  definitely  given. 
These  series  variously  overlap  in  several  directions,  but 
through  a  limited  number  of  principal  forms  and  a  still 
measurable  number  of  intermediate  forms  they  again 
approximate  sphericity. 

In  the  formation  of  all  the  solids  so  far  considered, 
there  were  always  three  equivalent  principal  directions, 
of  relatively  equal  efficiency  in  determining  the  form. 
IS'ow,  the  natural  tendency  of  force  to  operate  simulta- 
neously in  opposite  directions,  and  the  relations  of  ten- 
sion necessarily  induced  thereby  in  the  force  as  well  as 
in  the  matter  in  which  the  force  operates,  necessarily 
lead  in  the  further  development  of  crystal  forms  to  the 
development  of  differences  among  the  three  relatively 
wholly  equal  and  equivalent  principal  directions  :  The 
principal  direction  coinciding  with  the  axis  of  the  crys- 
tal form  will  become  either  greater  or  smaller  than  the 
two  others. 

The  series  of  crystal  forms  resulting  from  the  first  of 
these  differences  will  yield  chiefly  square  prisms  and 
elongated  octahedrons ;  the  series  resulting  from  the 
second  difference  will  yield  chiefly  flat,  square  prisms 
and  flattened  octahedrons.  (Inasmuch  as  we  are  con- 
cerned here  only  with  the  necessary  inner  relations  and 
eft'ects  of  force,  we  necessarily  leave  out  of  consideration 
all  differences  in  the  forms  of  crystals  depending  on  ex- 
ternal conditions  of  matter.)    The  development  of  these 


CHIEF   GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS   OF  INSTRUCTION.      181 

two  series  of  crystal  forms  proceeds  always  in  forms 
yielding  quadruple  crystal  forms. 

Again,  all  three  principal  directions  may  differ  in 
length.  The  forms  resulting  from  this  will  be  chiefly 
flattened,  oblong,  four-sided  prisms  and  octahedrons, 
with  three  different  sections.  The  development  of  this 
series  proceeds  by  twos  or  multiples  of  two.  Now,  the 
development  may  proceed  in  such  a  way  as  to  retain  the 
equality  of  corresponding  parts,  or  one  part  may  develop 
more  or  less  than  its  mate.  The  former  yields  the  series 
just  described  ;  the  latter  gives  series  of  crystals  in 
which  the  parts  appear  grouped  in  sets  of  two-and-one 
or  one-and-one. 

The  further  development  of  these  forms,  too,  ensues 
in  accordance  with  the  natural  law  and  tendency  of  force 
to  develop  comers  into  edges  and  planes,  and  vice  versa^ 
and  thus  to  represent  externally  the  inner  directions  in 
spherical  forms.  Because  of  the  peculiar  fundamental 
conditions,  all  the  solids  resulting  from  these  develop- 
ments are,  too,  distinctly  peculiar  in  their  appearance 
and  structure. 

We  have  so  far  considered  the  principal  conditions 
for  the  study  and  deduction  of  all  crystal  forms  with 
three  relatively  equal  principal  directions,  both  in  their 
individual  characteristics  and  in  their  net-like  inter- 
relationships. We  now  proceed  to  study  the  crystal 
forms  whose  structural  axis  falls  symmetrically  between 
the  three  principal  directions,  and  whose  fundamental 
form  is  the  cube  resting  on  one  of  its  comers. 

The  first  examination  of  the  cube  in  this  position 
revealed  peculiarities  determined  by  the  grouping  of  its 
parts  in  sets  of  three.  To  these,  further  consideration 
14 


182  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

will  add  tlia  following  peculiar  structural  laws  and 
properties : 

In  the  first  place,  even  a  superficial  observation  of 
the  cube  in  this  position  shows  the  peculiarity  that  the 
six  limiting  planes  appear  no  longer  as  six  regular  quad- 
rilaterals with  equal  diagonals,  but  as  symmetrical  quad- 
rilaterals with  different  diagonals,  or  as  rhombs.  At 
the  very  next  step  in  the  development  of  this  series  of 
crystal  forms,  this  merely  superficial  appearance  is  con- 
firmed by  the  actual  external  results  of  inner  conditions. 
Therefore,  all  the  forms  of  this  series  limited  by  six 
equal  planes  are  always  limited  by  six  equal  rhombs. 
The  fundamental  form  of  this  series  of  form,  then,  is 
the  rhombic  hexahedron  (rhombohedron) ;  and  the  fun- 
damental laws  and  limitations  lying  in  the  rhombohe- 
dron are  the  fundamental  laws  and  limitations  of  all  the 
following  formations. 

The  number  of  crystal  forms  derived  from  the 
rhombohedron  is  large,  almost  incalculably  large.  Yet 
they  radiate  right  from  the  fundamental  form  in  several 
series,  each  of  which  is  again  headed  by  a  principal 
form  determined  by  the  character  of  the  fundamental 
form: 

1.  The  three  edges  at  the  basal  point  and  the  three 
edges  at  the  vertex,  in  accordance  with  the  law  already 
mentioned,  are  developed  into  faces  until  they  mutually 
limit  one  another.  The  result  is  a  crystal  form  bounded 
by  twice  six  faces  and  twice  six  equal  basal  and  vertical 
edges,  which  unite  respectively  in  the  vertex  and  the 
basal  point — it  is  the  doicble-pointed^  equal-edged  dodeca- 
hedron (double  six-sided  pyramid). 

2.  The  lateral  edges,  in  accordance  with  the  inner 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS   OF  IXSTRUCTION.      183 

characteristics,  form  sloping  double  faces.  The  result 
is  again  a  crystal  form  bounded  bj  twice  six  faces,  which 
unite  in  the  vertex  and  basal  point,  but  have  only  the 
alternate  edges  equal.  It  is  the  douhle-^ointed,  three- 
and-three-edged  dodecahedron  (scalene  dodecahedron). 

3.  The  development  of  the  lateral  corners  or  edges 
of  the  rhombohedron  or  of  one  or  the  other  dodecahe- 
drons into  faces  parallel  to  the  axis,  and  of  the  terminal 
comers  into  planes  (perpendicular  to  the  axis),  yields  two 
new  crystal  forms — two  hexagonal  prisms  with  perpen- 
dicular bases.  They  differ,  however,  in  their  inner  na- 
ture and  in  their  origin,  inasmuch  as  one  of  the  prisms 
is  derived  from  the  lateral  edges  and  the  other  from  the 
lateral  corners  of  the  fundamental  solid  ;  they  may  be 
distinguished  as  the  hexagonal  prism  derived  from  the 
edges^  and  the  hexagonal  prism  derived  from  the  corners. 

In  accordance  with  this  inner  connection,  the  prin- 
cipal forms  are  related  as  foUow^s  : 

Rhombohedron. 


I  I 

double  six-sided  pyramid  scalene 

(dodecahedron).  dodecahedron. 

I  I 

hexagonal  prism  hexagonal  prism 

derived  from  corners.  derived  from  edges. 

In  accordance  with  the  repeatedly  enounced  and 
applied  law  of  crystal logenic  force,  and  with  other 
necessary  conditions,  the  fundamental  and  principal 
forms  derived  above  from  the  nature  of  the  force  give 
rise  in  strict  progression  to  all  possible  forms  of  the 
rhombic  and  hexagonal  system  with  constant  approach 
to  sphericity. 


184  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

Thus,  in  the  countless  numbers  of  rhombic  and 
hexagonal  forms  here  implied,  in  connection  with  the 
cubic  forms  indicated  above,  all  simple  crystal  forms  are 
implied  and  detemdned.  This  does  not  exclude  other 
still  simple  forms  in  which — in  accordance  with  certain 
peculiar  conditions  in  the  operation  of  the  crystallogenic 
force — the  various  forms  may  appear  with  variously 
modiiied  dimensions,  relatively  greater  length  or  breadth 
or  thickness.  On  the  other  hand,  by  its  very  tendency 
toward  ever-higher  development  of  crystal  forms,  the 
crystallogenic  force  at  last  reaches  so  high  a  degree  of 
tension,  of  inner  and  outer  opposition,  that  at  last  even 
the  external  results  show  that  the  tendency  to  relieve 
this  tension  and  antithesis  has  become  the  chief  tend- 
ency of  the  force. 

The  first  and  simplest  external  manifestation  of  this 
tendency  within  the  limits  of  crystallization  is  seen  in 
the  formation  of  crystals  in  precisely  opposite  directions. 
The  result  will  be  (compound)  forms  in  which  several 
simple  crystals  lying  in  opposite  directions  are  united 
externally  in  a  single  form,  appearing — when  the  law 
that  unites  them  can  not  be  unraveled — as  capricious 
accumulations. 

These  latter  formations  give  rise  to  a  wholly  new  se- 
ries of  compound  and  cumulated  crystals  which  appear 
to  be  imitations  of  higher  forms  of  development,  in  a 
variety  of  clustered,  protuberant,  or  globular  forms.  In 
the  last-named  accumulation,  especially,  it  seems  as  if 
the  component  crystals  together  succeeded  in  attaining 
the  original  spherical  form,  which  singly  they  could  not 
reach.  Thus,  at  this  stage  of  crystallization,  too,  hfe  ap- 
pears as  in  a  picture ;  we  see,  in  spite  of  all  the  rigid 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      185 

external  separation,  an  inner  living  connection,  the 
operation  of  one  and  the  same  law,  as  we  see  it  more 
and  more  clearly  at  each  successive  stage  of  the  develop- 
ment of  nature. 

Now,  all  these  forms  as  external  manifestations  be- 
long pre-eminently  to  the  world  of  matter,  to  the  world 
of  simply  energetic  force.  Their  external  unit  is  the 
sphere.  They  are  all  distinguished  by  the  peculiarity 
that  their  parts  are  grouped  in  multiples  of  two  and. 
three.  The  operation  of  the  force  in  directions  grouped 
in  multiples  of  five  and  seven  seems  to  be  wholly  ex- 
cluded, since  these  numbers  appear  either  only  subordi- 
nately  and  irregularly,  or  accidentally  and  transiently. 

Furthermore,  the  material  conditions  of  a  crystal  are 
the  same  at  all  points.  There  is  no  necessarily  deter- 
mined or  determining  permanent  center.  The  center 
is  only  relative,  and  disappears  with  the  related  con- 
ditions. Hence,  if  the  material  remains  the  same,  the 
continued  operation  of  the  force  can  increase  only  the 
mass  of  the  crystal.  The  energetic  force,  therefore,  ap- 
pears as  a  simple  and  not  as  a  complex  unity. 

So  much  for  the  development  and  manifestation  of 
crystallogenic  force  within  the  limits  of  crystals.  Now, 
the  nature  of  force,  as  a  self-active  principle  equally 
active  in  all  directions,  necessarily  postulates  in  the 
crystal  as  its  external  manifestation  a  perceptible  point 
in  which  the  force  has  its  seat,  from  which  all  its  ac- 
tivities proceed,  and  to  which  they  may  be  referred. 
But  such  a  point  is  not  found  in  solid  crystals ;  indeed, 
it  is  excluded  by  the  rigidity  of  the  crystal,  however 
peremptorily  it  may  be  demanded  by  the  nature  of  the 
force  that  forms  the  crystal. 


186  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

Again,  the  law  of  crystallization  postulates  a  mate- 
rial whose  crystalline  character,  whose  state  of  inner 
tension,  renders  it  impossible  to  develop  a  crystal  cor- 
responding with  such  a  point;  for  the  fact  that  the 
material  is  throughout  uniform  in  its  constitution  ex- 
cludes the  predominance  of  one  or  several  centers  of 
force.  For  the  same  reason  the  establishment  of  such  a 
center  of  force  would  destroy  the  crystalline  character- 
of  the  material. 

Furthermore,  force  as  such — in  order  to  become  an 
independent  force — requires  in  its  development  a  plu- 
rahty  of  manifestations  and  activities  within  the  law  of 
unity  and  proceeding  from  unity. 

The  nature  of  force  and  its  tendency  toward  com- 
plete development  and  representation  is,  therefore,  not 
satisfied  with  mere  many-sidedness  in  its  operation  ;  its 
fundamental  tendency  implies  an  organized  community 
of  forces,  each  of  which  operates  self -actively,  but  to- 
ward a  common  end  lying  in  unity. 

A  force  thus  organized  in  itseK  implies  again  a  mate- 
rial similarly  organized  in  itself.  Now,  material  is  so 
organized  when,  at  any  point  assigned  to  it  by  the  ac- 
tivity of  the  force,  it  adapts  itself  with  equal  readiness 
to  the  requirements  of  the  force,  be  this  in  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  general  or  the  particular,  of  the  inner 
or  the  outer,  on  any  side  or  in  any  direction  of  the  force. 

Organized  material  obeys  with  perfect  freedom  and 
without  friction  in  eyerj  direction.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  inner  tension  of  crystalline  material  excludes  this. 
Therefore,  organized  force  completely  destroys  all  crys- 
talline shape  of  the  material  and  organizes  it.  Only  by 
returning  to  a  perfectly  amorphous  state,  into  a  state  of 


CHIEF  GROUPS   OF   SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      187 

perfect  incolierence  and  solution,  can  crystalline  material 
become  organized. 

Here,  too,  we  have  a  manifestation  of  life,  we  see 
the  requirements  and  conditions  of  highest,  most  spirit- 
ual life  as  in  a  picture.  Therefore,  at  this  stage  of  the 
development  of  nature,  it  is  so  very  necessary  for  the 
education  of  self  and  others  to  know  and  to  understand 
the  essential  character  of  nature. 

§  73.  We  notice,  at  the  same  time,  as  an  intrinsic 
condition  of  force,  the  tendency  to  exert  itself  in  oppo- 
site directions.  ^N^ow,  we  may  consider  force  as  proceed- 
ing from  a  definite  demonstrable  unity  and  unfolding  a 
diversity  related  to  that  unity.  This  implies,  necessarily, 
alternation  in  the  opposite  tendencies  of  the  force ;  and, 
as  it  destroys  the  crystallinity  of  the  material,  it  destroys 
at  the  same  time  the  simultaneity  of  the  opposite  tend- 
encies, and  in  the  state  of  the  material  reveals  a  surg- 
ing, heaving,  swelling  of  the  force. 

In  the  crystal  the  opposite  tendencies  of  the  force 
are  simultaneous,  in  perfect  equilibrium :  hence  the 
rigidity  of  the  crystal.  The  disturbance  of  this  simul- 
taneity, with  the  slightest  predominance  of  one  or  the 
other  of  the  involved  tendencies  of  the  force,  at  once  de- 
stroys the  rigidity  of  the  crystal,  and  hence  the  crystal 
itself,  and  renders  the  material  earthy,  liquid,  or  gaseous. 

Now,  the  highest  development  of  force  implies  its 
greatest  exercise  of  freedom,  together  with  the  greatest 
possible  simultaneity  in  opposite  directions.  It  will, 
therefore,  have  attained  this  development  at  the  stage 
where  the  pulsations  of  opposite  tendencies  alternate 
most  rapidly.  This  continuity  in  the  pulsations  of  force, 
together  with  the  continuity  of  equilibrium  in  opposite 


188  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

tendencies,  we  have  in  life  /  and  the  definite  demonstra- 
ble point  whence  these  pulsations  proceed,  from  which 
all  this  self-active  life  is  breathed  out,  is  the  hearty  the 
heart-^oint 

In  perfect  accordance  with  the  nature  of  force,  either 
a  great  number  of  points,  or  only  a  limited  number,  or 
only  one,  will  tend  to  become  heart-points.  This  is  one 
of  the  first  grounds  for  the  development  of  distinct  liv- 
ing forms.  The  force  tends  more  and  more  to  render 
itself  independent  of  the  material,  so  that  the  degree 
of  life-expression  may  no  longer  depend  on  the  greater 
or  smaller  mass  of  material.  In  accordance  with  this 
fundamental  law,  all  life-forms  are  grouped  from  the 
very  beginning  in  two  series.  In  the  first  of  these,  the 
material  predominates ;  in  the  second,  life  predominates. 
The  former  is  properly  designated  as  living  (vegetable) ; 
the  latter  as  animate  (animal).  From  this  point  of 
view,  then,  all  natural  objects  may  be  grouped  as  follows: 

Simply  energetic 
(crystalline). 

Living  Qebencl)  Animate  ij^ebendig) 

(vegetable).  (animal). 

Since  life  implies  the  ever-recurring  return  of  the 
activity  to  the  center  of  force,  or  heart-point,  and  se- 
cures by  this  return  ever  again  a  new  lease  of  external 
existence,  all  living  forms  will  necessarily  grow  from 
within  outward. 

This  necessary  inner  connection,  here  and  previously" 
indicated,  among  crystalline,  vegetable,  and  animal 
forms,  is  demonstrated  unmistakably  also  from  another 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      189 

point  of  view  and  in  the  general  law  of  nature,  accord- 
ing to  wliich  the  particular  implies  the  general. 

Now,  since  the  previously  recognized  attributes  of 
force  lie  necessarily  in  its  nature,  they  will  continue 
with  the  continuance  of  the  force,  and  will  be  unmis- 
takably pronounced  in  the  succeeding  stages  of  develop- 
ment, although  in  different  forms,  combinations,  or  de- 
grees of  intensity.  This  requirement,  lying  in  the  very 
nature  of  the  force,  will  necessarily  be  manifest  in  every 
form  of  the  successive  stages  of  development,  and  is 
the  inner  determining  cause  of  each  of  these  forms. 
"While,  therefore,  in  the  crystals,  circular  and  spherical 
forms  seemed  to  be  secondary  and,  as  it  were,  acci- 
dental, they  now  appear  to  be  essential ;  with  this  dif- 
ference, however,  that  among  the  vegetable  forms  radia- 
tion and  surface  expansion  predominate,  whereas  among 
the  animal  forms  foimdness  and  sphericity  prevail. 

Now,  as  organized  force  necessarily  implies  organ- 
ized material,  both  imply  an  organized  form.  Hence 
the  vegetable  forms  in  which  life  still  appears  subordi- 
nate to  the  material  will  have  a  more  radiate  character, 
approximating  the  law  of  crystal  forms,  but  in  an  en- 
hanced, organized,  living  state.  Therefore,  we  see  in 
many  plants  the  expression  of  the  regularity  of  crystal 
forms,  more  particularly  in  the  numerical  relations  of 
parts. 

ZaJil  (number),  as  is  indicated  by  many  obsolete 
words  and  phrases,  signifies  originally  the  extremity, 
the  end.*  Therefore,  the  numerical  relations  in  plants 
are  so  important,  because  they  indicate,  as  it  were,  the 

*  ZaM  is  related  to  the  English  words  tale^  fell,  but  not  to  tail  {zagl)^ 
8s  Froebel  seems  to  assume. —  Tr. 


190  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

ends  of  the  directions  of  force  to  which  crystal  forms, 
as  well  as  successive  higher  forms,  owe  their  peculiari- 
ties. As  the  binary  crystal  forms  are  characterized  by 
great  simplicity,  so  we  find  a  similar  simplicity  among 
binary  plant-forms,  as  compared  with  ternary  plant- 
forms. 

In  binary  plants  this  law  is  clearly  manifest  in  the 
position  of  the  leaves  as  well  as  in  the  form  of  the 
stem,  etc.  The  peculiar  numerical  relations  are  also  al- 
ways accompanied  by  other  constant  peculiarities ;  and 
each  particular  numerical  expression  is  constantly  at- 
tended by  certain  particular  inner  properties.  Thus, 
nearly  all  binary  plants  exhale  very  strongly  aromatic 
odors,  etc. 

The  life-forms,  however,  are  by  no  means  satisfied 
with  ever  more  characteristic  representation  of  the 
original  directions,  and  the  resulting  numerical  relations 
that  yield  crystal  forms.  By  the  removal  of  external 
tension  the  inner  energy  has  been  raised  into  life-en- 
ergy, and  higher  activities  must  become  manifest  in 
the  formations.  Therefore,  among  vegetable  as  well 
as  among  animal  life-forms,  we  observe  soon  the  preva- 
lence of  numerical  relations  based  on  the  number  five, 
which  play  in  crystals  a  very  subordinate  part,  and 
appear  only  accidentally,  as  it  were,  and  transiently. 

Since,  in  all  natural  objects,  the  appearance  of 
quinary  relations  marks  very  characteristic  activities,  it 
comes  fraught  with  remarkable  symbolism  and  signifi- 
cance. 

In  the  vegetable  kingdom  these  quinary  relations 
rarely  appear  in  perfect  regularity — i.  e.,  with  all  the 
units  respectively  equal  or  equivalent  in  position,  form. 


CHIEF   GROUPS   OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      191 

and  significance  ;  and,  when  they  are  regular  externally, 
they  are  so  variable  that  the  regularity  is  perfectly 
maintained  in  a  few  cases  only.  This  proves  clearly  its 
origin  in  the  liberated  energy  of  force — in  the  tendency 
of  force,  now  lifted  into  life,  to  represent  each  relation 
independently. 

Inasmuch  as  the  representation  of  the  numbers  five 
and  seven  in  independent  and  continuous  development 
is  excluded  from  the  realm  of  simply  energetic  force, 
and  inasmuch  as  every  succeeding  development  of  force- 
activity  must  be  derived  from  simply  energetic  force, 
it  follows  that  quinary  and  septenary  relations  can 
originate  only  from  a  subdivision  or  contraction  of 
numerical  relations  lying  within  the  realm  of  simply 
energetic  force. 

This  is  actually  the  fact.  Quinary  forms  appear  in 
the  vegetable  kingdom  either  in  consequence  of  the 
subdivision  of  one  of  the  principal  directions  of  quater- 
nary or  binary  forms,  or  in  consequence  of  the  combi- 
nation of  two  principal  directions  of  ternary  forms. 
Kearly  all  quinary  plant-forms  show  this  to  be  the  case. 

It  appears,  then,  that  plants,  which  in  their  blos- 
soms show  scarcely  any  variation  in  the  number  five, 
are  to  be  considered  as  truly  quinary;  that  binary 
plants,  which  have  the  parts  of  their  blossoms  in  fives, 
show  the  five  as  two,  two,  and  one,  inasmuch  as  this 
five  results  from  the  bisection  of  one  of  the  four  equiva- 
lent directions.  Therefore,  two  of  the  parts  will  always 
belong  together,  and  one  will  stand  alone.  Such  plants, 
then,  appear  as  representations  of  the  law  of  two  and 
two  (binary  law),  passing  into  that  of  two,  two,  and 
one,  etc. 


192  THE   EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

In  general,  the  quinary  forms  and  combinations  pro- 
ceeding from  the  binary  law  are  the  most  varied,  as  is 
shown  in  plants  with  alternate  leaves.  The  lost  equi- 
librium between  the  two  twos  is  regained  only  with 
great  difficulty. 

It  is  different  with  the  character  of  quinary  forms 
appearing  in  ternary  plants.  Here  it  is  not  a  bisection, 
but  the  union  of  two  principal  directions  that  yields  the 
five ;  and  the  peace  and  calmness  resulting  from  this 
union  are  manifest  in  the  simplicity  of  the  blossoms,  as 
is  seen  in  the  rose,  etc. 

The  number  five,  then,  appears'  in  nature  and 
among  life-forms  as  uniting  the  character  of  the  num- 
bers two  and  three;  both  in  bisection  and  union,  it 
appears  as  three  and  two.  Hence,  as  developed  under 
the  influence  of  life-force,  it  is  truly  the  number  of 
analytic  and  synthetic  life,  representing  reason,  unceas- 
ing self -development,  self -elevation  ;  for,  the  higher  the 
stage  of  development  reached  by  the  life-forms,  the 
more  persistent  is  this  number. 

Among  vegetable  forms,  almost  regular  quinary  ar- 
rangements of  parts  are  found  in  plants  that  are  capable 
of  the  greatest  cultivation  and  variation,  as  is  seen  in 
the  various  fruit-plants  that  yield  pomes  and  drupes 
(such  as  the  apple,  pear,  cherry,  etc.),  as  well  as  in  the 
tropical  fruits. 

The  former  may  be  varied  indefinitely.  The  same  may 
be  observed  in  roses,  quinary  plants  derived  from  ternary 
relations ;  their  varieties,  too,  may  be  increased  indefi- 
nitely. Similarly,  each  locality  yields  its  own  variety  of 
potatoes,  although  so  many  varieties  have  been  developed 
in  the  few  years  of  our  acquaintance  with  this  plant. 


CHIEF   GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      193 

Again,  the  plants  in  whose  flowers  the  parts  appear 
almost  regularly  in  quinary  sets,  are  most  easily  propa- 
gated, improved,  and  induced  to  bear  double  flowers,  as 
is  seen  in  roses,  pinks,  primroses,  and  buttercups. 

Thus,  wherever  the  number  five  appears,  there  is 
unmistakable  evidence  of  a  higher  phase  of  life,  which, 
through  bisection  or  union  of  the  parts  implied  by  rigid 
law,  calls  forth  this  number. 

Starting,  not  from  the  external  features  of  the  num- 
ber, but  rather  from  the  innermost  essential  condition 
on  which  all  variations  and  relations  of  numbers  depend, 
the  following  additional  considerations  force  themselves 
upon  our  notice : 

The  binary  crystal  forms,  essentially  simple  and  mani- 
festing little  variation  of  energy,  resemble  the  differ- 
ent species  of  feelings ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  ternary 
crystal  forms,  in  their  continuous  external  subdivision 
into  ever-new  forms,  resemble  forms  of  the  understand- 
ing and  of  knowledge.  As,  in  the  ternary  crystals, 
the  structural  axis  is  distinct  from  each  of  the  three 
fundamental  directions  and  placed  independently  at 
equal  angles  among  them,  their  development  through 
external  subdivision  and  external  union  continues  almost 
indefinitely.  Therefore,  the  ternary  form  can  subdivide 
the  most  subtile  things ;  even  light  must  submit  to  its 
analytic  power,  as  in  calcareous  spar  and  in  the  three- 
sided  prism — an  artificial  ternary  form. 

Therefore,  the  falling  of  the  crystal  from  the  bi- 
nary into  the  ternary  law  of  development  resembles  the 
falling^  or — since  the  result  is  the  same — the  ascent  of 
the  mind  of  man  from  simple,  uniform  emotional  de- 
velopment into  the  development  of  externally  analytic 


194  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

and  critical  reason  ;  for  the  ternary  law,  too,  first  intro- 
duces us  to  the  external  knowledge  of  crystal  forms  as- 
cending in  the  scale  of  development. 

Concerning  the  peculiar  nature  and  effects  of  living 
force,  the  vegetable  world  shows  the  following  facts; 
Throughout  the  various  stages  of  upward  development 
of  the  same  living  force  in  a  plant,  each  part  of  the 
whole  seems  to  possess  the  whole  force  only  in  a  different 
degree  of  development ;  hence  it  is  so  frequently  possible 
to  produce  the  whole  plant  from  a  single  part — from  a 
shoot,  a  bud,  a  leaf,  a  fragment  of  the  root.  Hence, 
too,  is  derived  the  distinct  fundamental  law  of  vegeta- 
ble life  that  each  successive  stage  of  development  is 
a  higher  growth  of  the  preceding  one — e.  g.,  the  petals 
are  transformed  ordinary  leaves,  the  stamens  and  pistils 
transformed  petals.  Each  successive  formation  presents 
the  essential  nature  of  the  plant  in  a  more  subtile  garb, 
until  at  last  it  seems  clothed  only  in  a  delicate  perfume. 
The  inner — having  thus  become  almost  wholly  external 
— is  taken  up  by  the  ovary,  and  again  becomes  internal. 
From  the  beginning  to  the  time  of  blossoming,  the  life 
of  the  plant  is  an  upward  and  outward  unfolding ;  from 
this  to  the  time  of  full  maturity  of  the  fruit,  it  is  an 
exalted  withdrawing. 

Plant-forms,  then,  exhibit  the  (inner)  force  not  only 
in  multiplied  diversity,  but  also  in  a  state  of  progres- 
sive changes.  Hence,  too,  when  the  (inner)  force  re- 
cedes, we  notice  quite  frequently  a  retrogression  of  a 
later  to  an  earlier  form  of  development  —  e.  g.,  the 
retrogression  of  petals  to  sepals,  and  of  these  to  ordi- 
nary leaves ;  the  retrogression  of  stamens  and  pistils  to 
petals,  so  frequent   in  roses,  poppies,  mallows,  tulips, 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      I95 

etc.  As  an  instance  of  progressive  transformation,  we 
have  the  artificial  change  of  the  calyx  to  the  corolla, 
with  the  aid  of  favorable  position  and  food — e.  g.,  in 
the  garden  primrose. 

We  see,  then,  that  the  essential  nature  of  the  whole 
plant  lies  in  some  peculiar  manner  in  each  individual 
part  of  the  plant.  ^N^ow,  the  first  tendency  of  every 
thing  and  of  every  plant  is  toward  the  all-sided  repre- 
sentation  of  its  individuality.  This  tendency  toward 
sphericity  seems  to  be  most  fully  restrained  in  the 
leaves.  Therefore,  it  is  frequently  noticed,  though  not 
in  the  leaves  alone,  that  after  some  injury  the  seemingly 
unfettered  tendency  toward  spherical  representation  ap- 
pears in  the  accessory  formations  ;  this  is  seen  very 
beautifully  in  the  rose-gall  on  inj  ured  rose-leaves. 

Thus  the  plant  seemingly  represents  the  nature  of 
life-force  in  external  quiescence.  Therefore,  from  this 
point  of  view,  plants  appear  as  the  blossoms  of  nature ; 
and  as  among  plants,  after  the  period  of  blossoming,  the 
essential  nature  of  the  plant  withdraws  inwardly,  thus, 
on  the  next  stage  of  natural  development — the  stage  of 
animal  life — all  external  diversity  is  again  gathered  up 
in  an  inner  unity,  as  it  were  in  a  kernel  or  seed,  in 
spherical  forms.  Therefore,  the  lowest  animals  in  their 
simple,  spherical  shapes  resemble  seeds  endowed  with 
animal  life. 

Thus,  inasmuch  as  the  law  of  the  individual  part  is 
repeated  in  the  whole,  the  totality  of  all  nmndane 
forms,  although  but  a  small  part  of  the  great  universe, 
is  nevertheless,  relatively,  a  great,  individual,  organized, 
and  organic  whole.  The  animals,  too,  constitute  again 
a  great  organic  whole,  seemingly  one  living  form :  this 


196  THE  EDUCATION  OF   MAN. 

is  manifest  in  the  great  general  laws  of  nature  that  con- 
trol the  totality  and  apply  distinctly  in  individual  cases. 

Thus,  the  quinary  law,  the  necessary  condition  of 
higher  life,  one  with  the  appearance  of  life  on  earth  and 
inseparable  from  that  life,  is  expressed  with  increased 
vitality  in  all  animals;  this  is  evident  in  the  earliest 
forms,  with  the  first  appearance  of  animal  life,  as  is 
shown  by  the  remains  of  perished  ages,  and  this  fun- 
damental law  accompanies  animal  life  in  all  its  varied 
combinations  and  differentiations.  Even  in  the  human 
being,  in  whom  life  appears  lifted  into  perfect  spirit- 
uality, the  number  five  is  an  essential  attribute  of  his 
hand,  man's  principal  member,  his  principal  instrument 
in  formative,  creative  activity,  etc. 

Another  great,  universally  diffused  law  of  nature, 
particularly  well  pronounced  in  the  whole  animal  king- 
dom, and  again  representing  the  animal  kingdom  as  a 
whole  in  relative  individuality,  is  the  law  that  makes  the 
external  internal,  and  vice  versa.  Thus  we  find  the 
first  aninials  having  soft  bodies,  living  in  houses  almost 
wholly  composed  of  stone,  almost  wholly  independent 
of  the  animals,  and  only  externally  inclosing  their  bod- 
ies as  if  they  were  foreign,  separate  things.  Neverthe- 
less, the  existence  of  the  animals  depends  on  their  fixed 
calcareous  dwelling-place.  Later  on  the  animals  appear 
detached,  free,  no  longer  like  plants  fixed  in  one  point ; 
they  and  their  stony  coverings  are  firmly  united  in 
growth,  the  solid  covering  incloses  the  body  like  a 
solid  rind. 

In  succeeding  (higher)  animal  forms,  the  half-gristly, 
half -stony  covering  unites  more  and  more  fully  with 
the  body  of  the  animal,  and  at  last  disappears  externally. 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      197 

It  sinks  into  the  flesh,  as  it  were ;  and,  in  the  measure 
in  which  it  disappears  outwardly,  it  becomes  in  fish 
and  amphibia  an  inner  cartilaginous  skeleton,  with  re- 
siduary scales  on  the  surface  of  the  body. 

In  the  still  higher  forms,  this  cartilaginous  skeleton 
is  transformed  more  and  more  into  a  solid,  bony  skele- 
ton, and  the  muscular  mass,  formerly  inclosed  in  a  stony 
covering,  now  incloses  the  stony  bones.  What,  in  low- 
er forms,  was  external  is  now  internal ;  what  was  in- 
ternal is  now,  in  the  perfected  animal,  external. 

Again,  the  great  law  of  equilibrium  is  manifested 
with  special  distinctness  in  the  animal  world.  By  this 
law  a  relatively  determinate  quantity  of  force  dwells  in 
each  life-form,  and  a  relatively  determinate  quantity  of 
material  is  required  for  each  body  and  for  each  kind  of 
its  organs;  consequently,  if  this  material  is  used  pre- 
dominantly on  one  side  in  the  formation  of  the  body  or 
of  its  organs,  the  development  of  the  body  or  similar 
organs  on  the  other  side  will  suffer,  and  one  organ  or 
side  will  grow  at  the  expense  of  the  other.  Thus,  in 
fish,  the  trunk  of  the  body  is  developed  at  the  expense 
of  the  hmbs. 

The  operation  of  this  law  appears  most  clearly  if  the 
human  form  in  its  symmetrical  development  is  taken  as 
the  criterion.  If  we  compare,  for  instance,  the  arm  and 
hand  of  man  with  the  wing  of  a  bird,  we  see  clearly 
that  certain  parts  or  organs  are  developed  at  the  ex- 
pense of  others. 

§  Y4.  Thus,  the  forms  of  nature  in  all  their  diversity, 

in  all  the  stages  of  their  development,  result  from  the 

operation  of  one  and  the  same  force.     Primarily  this 

force  appears  as  a  unity,  is  clearly  and  fully  pronounced 

15 


198  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

in  completely  individualized  life,  but  is  externally  re- 
vealed in  universal  and  all-sided  application  only  in  the 
varied  forms  of  nature,  the  possibility  of  whose  repre- 
sentation is  implied  in  the  force.  Here,  too,  is  con- 
firmed the  great  and  universal  truth  that  only  in  triune 
representation,  only  in  unity,  individuality,  and  diversity 
can  each  form  of  nature  completely  and  perfectly  ex- 
press its  inner  being. 

We  have  in  this  a  new  confirmation  of  the  law  of 
development  of  crystals,  the  passing  from  special-sided- 
ness  to  all-sidedness,  from  imperfection  to  perfection — 
as  the  law  of  all  development  in  nature.  Man,  then,  ap- 
pears as  the  last  and  most  perfect  earthly  being,  in  whom 
all  that  is  corporeal  appears  in  highest  equilibrium  and 
symmetry,  and  in  whom  the  primordial  force  is  fully 
spiritualized,  so  that  man  feels,  understands,  and  knows 
his  own  power.  But,  while  man  externally  and  cor- 
poreally has  attained  equilibrium  and  symmetry  of  form, 
there  heave  and  surge  in  him — viewed  as  a  spiritual  be- 
ing— appetites,  desires,  passions.  As  in  the  world  of 
crystals  we  noticed  the  heaving  and  surging  of  simple 
energy,  ^nd  in  the  vegetable  and  animal  worlds  the 
heaving  and  surging  of  living  forces,  so  here  the  heav- 
ing and  surging  of  spiritual  forces. 

Therefore,  man,  with  reference  to  spiritual  develop- 
ment has  returned  to  a  first  stage,  as  crystals  are  in  the 
first  stage  with  reference  to  the  development  of  life. 
Therefore,  again,  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  crystal  and 
life  forms  is  so  highly  important  in  the  education  of  self 
and  others ;  it  teaches  and  guides,  gives  light  and  peace. 
For  this  reason,  the  boy — the  learning  human  being — 
should  at  an  early  period  be  taught  to  see  nature  in  all 


CHIEF   GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS   OF   INSTRUCTION.      199 

her  diversity  as  a  unit,  as  a  great  living  whole,  as  one 
thought  of  God.  The  integrity  of  nature  as  a  con- 
tinuously self-developing  whole  must  be  shown  him  at 
an  early  period.  Without  a  knowledge  of  this  unity 
in  the  activities  and  forms  of  nature,  it  is  impossible 
to  attain  or  to  impart  a  genuine  knowledge  of  natural 
history. 

This  unity  the  boy's  mind  seeks  at  an  early  period ; 
it  alone  satisfies  him  (see  §45).  Go  with  a  genuire  boy 
into  open  nature,  show  the  diverse  natural  objects,  and  he 
will  soon  ask  you  to  indicate  to  him  the  higher,  causal, 
living  unity.  While  I  write  this,  it  is  corroborated  by 
constantly  recurring  questions  from  boys  who  have  just 
entered  upon  this  stage  of  development  and  who  are 
interested  in  natural  objects.  All  fragmentary  study  of 
nature,  so  different  from  the  study  of  individual  objects 
with  reference  to  the  unity  that  embraces  all,  deprives 
natural  objects  and  nature  of  life  and  impairs  the  vigor 
of  the  human  mind. 

§  75.  These  few  hints  for  the  study  of  nature  as  a 
whole  must  suffice  here.  They  are  simply  intended  to 
guide  the  father  or  teacher  in  leading  the  pupil  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  universal  application  of  the  same  law 
in  all  the  various  stages  of  natural  development,  to  the 
apprehension  of  unity  in  diversity  and  of  nature  as  a 
living  organism.  The  inner  connection  among  the  ac- 
tivities and  objects  of  nature  has  here  been  indicated 
only  in  general  and  only  in  one  direction  (that  of  form). 
Similarly,  nature  must  be  shown  to  the  pupil  as  an  or- 
ganized and  organic  whole  in  all  directions;  for  the 
various  forces,  materials,  sounds,  colors,  etc.,  have — like 
the  forms — their  inner  unity,  their  living  inner  con- 


200  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

nection  in  and  among  themselves  and  with  the  whole. 
Indeed,  in  their  perfect  development,  all  depend  on  the 
influence  of  the  same  great,  uniting,  causal,  natural  ob- 
jects, on  the  sun,  which  calls  into  being  and  sustains  all 
earthly  life.  It  almost  seems  as  if  all  earthly  things 
simply  revealed  the  nature  of  sunlight ;  eagerly  all  turn 
toward  the  sun,  absorb  the  sunHght,  hang  upon  his  rays 
as  the  children  hang  upon  the  words  and  looks  of  father 
and  mother — of  the  father  who  teaches  in  love,  of  the 
mother  who  sustains  and  strengthens  their  development. 
As  the  development  and  improvement  of  the  children 
are  affected  by  the  presence  or  absence  of  pure  parental 
love,  of  perfect  parental  spirit,  so  the  development  and 
improvement  of  earthly  things — the  children  of  sun  and 
earth,  as  it  were — depend  on  the  presence  or  absence 
of  sunlight.  Thus,  earthly  things,  as  a  whole,  repre- 
sent externally,  visibly,  and  in  manifold  diversity  the 
nature  of  sunlight,  which  in  the  sun  is  seen  as  a  unity ; 
and  the  knowledge  of  one  leads  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  other. 

Thus,  father  and  son,  teacher  and  pupil,  parent  and 
child,  walk  together  in  one  great  living  universe.  Let 
not  teacher  or  parent  object  that  he  himself  is  as  yet 
ignorant  of  this.  Not  the  communication  of  knowledge 
already  in  their  possession  is  the  task,  but  the  calling 
forth  of  new  knowledge.  Let  them  observe,  lead  their 
pupils  to  observe,  and  render  themselves  and  their  pupils 
conscious  of  their  observations. 

An  apprehension  of  the  universality  of  law  in 
nature,  of  her  unity,  does  not  require  special  technical 
terms  for  the  objects  or  their  attributes,  but  plain  and 
accurate  observation  and  accurate  naming  of  these  things 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.     201 

in  accordance  with  the  character  of  language  and  of  the 
thing  named. 

In  rendering  the  boy  familiar  with  natural  objects 
we  are  by  no  means  concerned  with  the  teaching  of 
names  nor  of  preconceived  views  and  opinions,  but  only 
with  presenting  the  things  themselves  with  their  ob- 
vious attributes  in  such  a  way  that  the  boy  may  view 
each  object  as  the  definite  individual  object  it  reveals 
itself  to  be  in  its  form,  etc. 

Even  the  knowledge  of  a  previously  given  or  gener- 
ally accepted  name  is  unimportant ;  only  the  clear  and 
distinct  apprehension  and  the  correct  naming  of  the 
general  and  particular  attributes  are  important.  We 
may  give  the  object  a  wholly  provincial  name,  or — if 
we  have  not  this — we  may  give  it  a  name  suggested  by 
the  moment,  or,  better  still,  we  may  name  it  by  circum- 
locution, until  in  some  way  we  find  out  the  generally 
accepted  name.  Through  such  endeavors  we  shall  soon 
learn  the  generally  accepted  name,  and  thus  be  enabled 
to  harmonize  our  knowledge  with  the  general  knowl- 
edge, and  to  correct  and  supplement  it  with  the  latter. 

Let  not  the  teacher  of  a  country  school  object  that 
he  knows  nothing  about  natural  objects,  not  even  their 
names.  Even  if  he  has  had  the  scantiest  education,  by 
a  diligent  observation  of  nature  he  may  gain  a  deeper 
and  more  thorough,  more  living,  intrinsic,  and  extrinsic 
knowledge  of  natural  objects  in  their  diversity  and  in- 
dividuality, than  he  can  acquire  from  ordinary  availa- 
ble books. 

Besides,  that  so-called  higher  knowledge  rests,  ordi- 
narily, on  phenomena  and  observations  within  the  reach 
of  the  plainest  man,  observations  which  frequently — if 


202  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

he  know  how  to  use  his  ejes — come  to  him  with  little 
or  no  expense,  in  greater  beauty  than  the  costliest  ex- 
periment could  yield  them.  But  to  this  he  must  bring 
himself  by  continued  observation ;  to  this  he  must  let 
himself  be  brought  by  the  boys  and  youths  around  him. 

Parents  should  not  be  timid,  should  not  object  that 
they  know  nothing  themselves  and  do  not  know  how  to 
teach  their  children.  If  they  desire  to  know  something, 
their  ignorance  is  not  tlie  greatest  evil.  Let  them  imi- 
tate the  child's  example ;  let  them  become  children  with 
the  child,  learners  with  the  learner;  let  them  go  to 
father  and  mother,  and  with  the  child  be  taught  by 
Mother  JN^ature  and  by  the  fatherly  spirit  of  God  in 
nature.     The  spirit  of  God  and  nature  will  guide  them. 

One  of  the  purposes  of  the  college,  indeed,  is  to 
open  the  inner  eye  for  outer  and  inner  truths ;  but  it 
were  sad  for  humanity  if  only  those  who  go  to  college 
should  learn  to  see.  On  the  other  hand,  if  parents  and 
teachers  teach  children  at  an  early  period  to  see  and 
think,  colleges  would  again  become  what  they  ought  to 
become,  viz.,  schools  for  the  study  of  the  highest  arid 
most  spiritual  truths  y  schools  for  the  representation  of 
these  in  the  life  of  the  students  ;  schools  of  wisdom. 

From  every  point,  from  every  object  of  nature  and 
life,  there  is  a  way  to  God.  Only  hold  fast  the  point, 
and  keep  steady  on  the  way,  gather  strength  from  the 
conviction  that  nature  must  necessarily  have  not  only 
an  external,  general  cause,  but  an  inner  living  cause, 
efficient  in  the  most  trivial  detail ;  that  it  proceeds  from 
one  Being,  one  Creator,  one  God,  in  accordance  with 
the  self-evident,  necessary  law  by  which  the  temporal 
is  an  expression  of  the  eternal,  the  corporeal  a  mani- 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.     203 

festation  of  the  spiritual.  You  can  not  fail,  then,  to 
see  the  general  in  the  particular,  and  the  particular  in 
the  general. 

The  things  of  nature  form  a  more  beautiful  ladder 
between  heaven  and  earth  than  that  seen  by  Jacob ;  not 
a  one-sided  ladder  leading  in  one  direction,  but  an  all- 
sided  one  leading  in  all  directions.  Not  in  dreams  is  it 
seen ;  it  is  permanent ;  it  surrounds  us  on  all  sides.  It  is 
decked  with  flowers,  and  angels  with  children's  eyes 
beckon  us  toward  it ;  it  is  solid,  resting  on  a  floor  of 
crystals;  the  inspired  singer,  David,  praises  and  glori- 
fies it. 

Would  you  have  a  fixed  point,  a  reliable  guide  in  all 
this  diversity  ?  It  is  given  you  in  number  (see  §§  38,  99). 
!N"umber  leads  you  on  a  reliable  path ;  for  it  is  deter- 
mined by  the  external  manifestations  of  the  directions 
of  inner  energy.  In  the  most  direct  way,  it  reveals  the 
innermost  nature  of  force,  if  you  will  but  behold  it 
with  the  keen  eye  of  the  boy,  with  the  simple  mind 
and  heart  of  the  child. 

Let  the  boy's  eye  and  mind  be  your  guide,  for  you 
may  know  that  a  simple  natural  boy  will  not  be  satisfied 
with  half-truths  and  false  notions.  Follow  his  questions 
thoughtfully — they  will  teach  you  and  him.  For  they 
come  from  the  mind  of  a  child,  and  surely  father  and 
mother  can  answer  a  child's  questions. 

You  object  that  children  and  boys  ask  more  than 
parents  and  adults  can  answer.  This  is  true.  Either 
you  stand  at  the  limit  of  earthly  things  and  at  the 
threshold  of  divine  things  (if  so,  say  so  plainly;  the 
child's  or  boy's  spirit  will  be  satisfied),  or  you  stand 
at  the  limit  of  your  knowledge  and  experience.     Do 


204  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

not  hesitate  to  say  so ;  but  beware  of  saying  in  this 
case  tliat  you  stand  at  the  Hmit  of  human  knowledge 
in  general — this  would  dwarf  and  stunt  the  human 
mind. 

In  such  cases,  examine  the  life  within  you,  compare 
it  with  the  life  around  you,  lead  your  pupil  to  make  the 
same  comparison,  and  you  and  he  will,  in  due  time,  find 
the  answer  to  your  question.  You  will  see  clearly,  with 
the  inner  eye,  the  reliable  and  unequivocal  answer 
which  you  seek.  Thus  you  will  clearly  see  God  in  his 
works ;  your  earthly  longings  will  be  appeased ;  what- 
ever of  peace  and  good-cheer,  whatever  of  consolation 
and  help  you  may  require  in  times  of  need,  you  will 
find  in  your  own  souls. 

§  76.  Man  needs  a  fixed  point  and  a  safe  guide  in 
the  study  of  the  inner  connection  of  all  this  manifold 
diversity  in  nature.  What  can  furnish  a  more  reliable 
and  uniting  starting-point  in  this  than  that  which  ap- 
pears as  the  source  from  which  all  diversity  develops 
itself,  the  visible  expression  of  all  law  and  obedience  to 
law,  viz.,  mathematics,  which,  on  account  of  this  great 
exhaustive  property,  was  from  the  very  beginning  so 
named — mathematics — i.  e.,  the  science  of  learning. 

As  a  phenomenon  of  both  the  inner  and  outer  world 
(of  the  macrocosm  and  microcosm),  mathematics  be- 
longs equally  to  man  and  nature.  Mathematics,  as  pro- 
ceeding from  a  priori  laws  of  thought,  as  the  visible 
expression  of  thought  and  its  laws,  finds  the  phenom- 
ena, combinations,  and  forms  logically  deduced  from 
these  laws,  again  in  the  outer  world  independently  es- 
tablished. 

Similarly,  man  finds  again  in  himself,  in  the  laws  of 


CHIEF   GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.     205 

his  thouglit,  the  same  diversity  of  forms  which  in  na- 
ture are  developed  independent  of  him.  Mathematics 
thus  appears  as  a  mediator  between  man  and  nature,  be- 
tween the  inner  and  the  outer  world,  between  thought 
and  perception. 

This  great  mission,  coexistent  with  the  differentia- 
tion of  inner  and  outer  world,  with  the  law  of  cause  and 
effect,  has  secured  for  mathematics  the  high  rank  which 
it  has  enjoyed  through  all  ages.  Because  of  this,  too,  it 
could  be  seen  in  its  true  character  and  assigned  its  true 
place  onlj^  by  Christianity.  Only  the  Christian  who  sees 
in  all  things  the  outgoings  of  the  One  Divine  Spirit, 
can  possibly  appreciate  its  true  character ;  for  only  the 
Christian  can  understand  the  unity  of  the  purely  spirit- 
ual (a  priori)  forms  with  the  forms  of  nature.  Only 
he  can  solve  the  question  whether  mathematics  has  been 
deduced  from  natural  phenomena,  or  whether  natural 
objects  were  formed  after  laws  of  human  thought,  and 
have  an  existence  only  in  these  laws.  For  does  not  the 
same  One  Divine  Spirit  live  and  work  in  man  and  in  na- 
ture ?  Are  not  man  and  nature  the  creatures  of  the 
sam-e  one  God  ?  Must  we  not,  on  this  account,  neces- 
sarily find  unity  and  harmony  and  obedience  to  the 
same  law  in  the  spirit  of  nature  and  in  the  spirit  of 
man,  in  external  forms  and  forces,  and  in  internal  for- 
mation and  thought  ? 

Therefore,  it  is  possible  to  study  nature  in  her  forms 
and  organisms,  and  with  the  help  of  the  formulated 
laws  of  human  thought,  in  mathematics. 

For  this  reason  mathematics  mediates,  unites,  gen- 
erates knowledge ;  it  is  not  dead,  self-limited,  a  certain 
sum  of  separate  forms  and  truths  found  separately  and 


206  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

accidentally  and  put  on  file,  but  it  is  a  living  whole, 
continually  regenerating  itself  anew,  strictly  keeping 
pace  in  its  development  with  the  development  of  the 
human  mind  with  reference  to  unity  and  diversity,  and 
insight  and  contemplation ;  for  it  is  the  visible  expres- 
sion of  thought,  the  expression  of  obedience  to  law  in 
the  spiritual  as  such,  and  therefore  in  this  respect  an 
organism,  a  product  of  necessity  and  freedom. 

Mathematics  is,  then,  neither  foreign  to  actual  life 
nor  something  deduced  from  life ;  it  is  the  expression 
of  life  as  such :  therefore  its  nature  may  be  studied  in 
life,  and  life  may  be  studied  with  its  help. 

Inasmuch  as  thought  and  its  laws  themselves  pass 
from  unity  to  diversity  or  all-sidedness,  and,  although 
apparently  starting  with  a  diversity  (something  exter- 
nal), yet  always  refer  to  some  remote  or  obscure  unity 
(something  primarily  internal),  mathematics,  too,  passes 
necessarily  from  unity  to  diversity  or  all-sidedness  ;  and, 
although  externally  and  apparently  it  proceeds  from 
individuality  and  diversity,  yet  a  necessary  inner  unity 
underhes  all  its  deductions. 

All  mathematical  forms  and  figures  should,  there- 
fore, be  viewed  as  proceeding  from  the  laws  lying  in 
the  sphere  and  circle,  and  referred  to  these  as  their 
unity ;  the  sphere  itself,  however,  is  to  be  regarded  as 
proceeding  from  unity  with  its  own  self-active  energy 
(see  g  68). 

Mathematical  forms  and  figures  should  not,  there- 
fore, be  considered  as  put  together  in  accordance  with 
external,  arbitrary  causes,  but  as  the  necessary  outcome 
of  a  self-active,  inner  force,  acting  in  all  directions 
from  a  central  point.     They  are  not,  in  the  very  first 


CniEF   GROUPS   OF   SUBJECTS   OF  INSTRUCTION.      207 

instruction,  to  be  considered  as  separate  things,  but  in 
their  necessary  inner  connection ;  even  if  we  do  start 
with  individual  and  diverse  forms  and  figures,  we 
^hould  always  refer  them  to  this  ever-present  and  ever- 
active  unity  which  may  be  likened  to  their  soul. 

Mathematics  is  the  expression  of  the  inner  cause 
and  of  the  outer  limitations  and  properties  of  space. 
As  it  originates  in  unity,  it  is  in  itself  a  unity ;  and,  as 
space  implies  diversity  in  direction,  shape,  and  exten- 
sion, it  follows  that  number,  form,  and  magnitude  mu- 
tually imply  one  another,  and  are  an  inseparable  three 
in  unity. 

Now,  number  is  the  expression  of  diversity  as  such, 
and,  indeed,  the  expression  of  the  inner  cause  of  diver- 
sity, of  tlie  directions  of  energy ;  it  does  not  result  from 
dead,  external  addition,  but  from  living  inner  laws  that 
lie  in  the  very  nature  of  force.  On  the  other  hand, 
form  and  magnitude  find  their  explanation  only  in  di- 
versity. It  follows  from  this  that  a  knowledge  of  num- 
ber is  first  and  most  essential  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
triune  whole ;  that  a  knowledge  of  number  is  the  foun- 
dation of  a  knowledge  of  form  and  magnitude — of  a 
general  knowledge  of  space. 

Space  itself,  however,  is  by  no  means  dead  and  sta- 
tionary, but  owes  its  existence  to  the  constant  operation 
of  inner  absolute  energy.  And,  as  space  owes  its  ex- 
istence to  the  cause  and  primordial  law  of  all  existing 
things,  it  follows  that  the  universal  laws  of  space  under- 
lie all  that  manifests  itself  in  space  and  the  laws  of 
thought  and  knowledge  themselves. 

Mathematics  should  be  treated  more  physically  and 
dynamically,   as   the  outcome  of  nature   and   energy. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

This  would  make  it  even  more  instructive,  more  profit- 
able than  we  even  now  anticipate,  not  only  in  the 
study  of  nature,  especially  in  her  chemical  (material) 
structure,  but  also  in  the  study  of  the  nature  and  opera- 
tion of  the  spiritual,  of  the  laws  of  thought  and  feel- 
ing. This  is  especially  true  of  the  study  of  curves,  of 
the  spherical,  and  the  like. 

Education  without  mathematics  (at  least  without  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  numbers,  supplemented  by  occa- 
sional instruction  in  form  and  magnitude)  is,  therefore, 
weak,  imperfect  patchwork;  it  interposes  insuperable 
limits  to  the  normal  culture  and  development  of  man. 
Unable  to  free  himself  from  his  inner  longing  for  prog- 
ress, man  attempts  to  leap  over  these,  or,  weary  of  his 
fruitless  endeavors,  seeks  to  suppress  the  energy  of  his 
powers ;  for  the  mind  and  mathematics  are  as  insepar- 
able as  the  soul  and  religion. 

C.  Language. 

%  77.^  What,  now,  is  language^  the  third  of  the  fulcra 
of  boy-life  and  of  human  life  in  general,  and  what  re- 
lation does  it  hold  to  the  other  two  ? 

Wherever  there  is  true  inner  connection,  true  inner 
and  living  reciprocity,  there  appears  a  relation  similar 
to  that  of  unity,  individuality,  and  diversity.  This  ap- 
plies, too,  to  religion,  nature,  and  language.  In  religion, 
the  aspiration  of  the  soul  which  is  directed  toward  unity 
in  man,  prevails  and  seeks  the  fruition  of  its  hopes.  In 
the  contemplation  of  nature  and  mathematics,  the  aspi- 
ration of  intelligence,  which  refers  to  individuality  in 
man,  prevails  and  seeks  certainty.     In  language,  the  de- 


CHIEF  GROUPS   OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.     209 

mand  of  reason  which  refers  to  diversity  and  unites  all 
diversity,  prevails  and  seeks  satisfaction.  Religion  is  a 
living  in  the  soul  that  finds  and  feels  the  One  in  All ; 
nature  studies  individualities  in  nature,  in  themselves 
and  in  their  relations  to  one  another  and  to  the  whole ; 
and  language  represents  the  unity  of  all  diversity,  the 
inner  living  connection  of  all  things.  These  three, 
therefore,  form  an  inseparable  unity,  and  the  one-sided, 
fragmentary  development  of  one  or  the  other  of  them 
necessarily  pi  oduces  one-sidedness  and,  w^ith  this,  finally, 
the  annihilation,  or  at  least  destruction,  of  unity  in 
man. 

Religion  strives  to  manifest  and  does  manifest  he- 
ing ;  nature  strives  to  manifest  and  does  manifest 
energy,  the  cause  of  its  action  and  this  action  itself ; 
language  strives  to  manifest  and  does  manifest  life  as 
such  and  as  a  whole. 

Eehgion,  nature  —  (Mathematics  represents,  as  it 
were,  the  tendency,  laws,  and  causes  of  nature  in  man  ; 
mathematics  represents  nature  as,  in  accordance  with 
her  necessary  causes,  she  must  lie  in  the  mind  of  man  ; 
without  mathematics  man  could  obtain  no  knowledge 
of  nature ;  with  it  he  can  see  her  more  fully  and  har- 
moniously than  her  external  phenomena  would  warrant) 
— religion,  nature  (mathematics),  and  language  in  all 
their  diverse  relations  have  the  same  one  mission  and 
purpose,  to  reveal  the  inner ;  to  make  the  internal  ex- 
ternal, the  external  internal,  and  to  show  both  the  in- 
ternal and  external  in  their  natural,  primordial,  neces- 
sary harmony  and  union. 

Whatever,  therefore,  is  true  of  one  of  the  three  will 
necessarily  be   relatively  true   also   of  the  other  two. 


210  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

Whatever  has  been  said  heretofore  of  religion  and  na- 
ture (with  mathematics),  if  it  is  only  in  itself  true,  must 
apply  to  language  in  the  peculiar  way  determined  by 
the  character  of  language. 

Therefore,  unfortunately  for  humanity  as  a  whole, 
we  are  confronted  in  life,  as  one  of  the  greatest  ob- 
stacles to  the  development  of  the  three,  by  the  illusion 
that  each  may  have  an  independent  existence  and  reach 
perfection  in  its  development ;  that  we  may  have  lan- 
guage without  religion  and  nature  (mathematics),  etc. 

But  as  it  was  necessary  that  God,  desiring  to  reveal 
himself  unequivocally  in  the  fullness  and  integrity  of 
his  being,  should  do  so  in  the  triune  manner  indicated 
(see  §  61) ;  so,  too,  religion,  nature  (mathematics),  and  lan- 
guage constitute  an  integral  unity.  A  complete  knowl- 
edge and  firm  confidence  in  the  one  necessarily  implies 
complete  knowledge  and  firm  confidence  in  the  other ; 
a  true  study  of  the  one  necessarily  implies  also  the  true 
study  of  the  other. 

Now,  since  man  is  destined  to  know  and  to  see 
clearly  (see  §  78),  human  education  requires  the  knowl- 
edge and  appreciation  of  religion,  nature  (mathematics), 
and  language  in  their  intimate  living  reciprocity  and 
mutual  causality.  Without  the  knowledge  and  appreci- 
ation of  the  intimate  unity  of  the  three,  the  school  and 
we  ourselves  are  lost  in  the  fallacies  of  bottomless,  self- 
producing  diversity 

Such  is  the  nature  of  language  and  its  relation  to 
man  and  his  education.  We  shall  now  inquire  how 
language  itself  manifests  and  corroborates  this  in  its 
structure. 

§  78.  In  general,  language  is  the  self-active  outward 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      211 

expression  of  the  inner.  This  is  shown  in  the  word 
sprechen^  s-prechen  * — i.  e.,  to  break  one's  self.  As  the 
breaking  of  a  thing  makes  known  its  inner  structure,  as 
the  opening  (breaking-up)  of  a  bud  reveals  the  inner 
structure  of  the  blossom,  so  the  speaker  self-actively  re- 
veals, expresses  what  is  within  him. 

Now,  the  innermost  (soul)  of  man  is  constantly  mov- 
ing life^  therefore  the  attributes  and  phenomena  of  life 
must  be  revealed  in  human  speech.  Hence,  perfect 
human  language,  as  a  continuous  representative  of  the 
innermost  soul  of  man,  must  manifest  itself  through  the 
most  mobile  medium  and  by  the  slightest  movements ; 
it  necessarily  must  be  audible. 

A  man's  speech  should  be,  as  it  were,  his  self  in  its 
integrity,  and  that  it  may  reveal  him  all-si dedly  and 
continuously  in  greatest  mobility.  It  will,  then,  inas- 
much as  man  is  a  product  of  nature,  reveal  also  the 
character  of  nature  as  a  whole.  It  will  become  an 
image  of  man's  inner  and  outer  world. 

N'ow,  the  soul  of  man,  like  the  soul  of  nature,  is 
law,  necessity,  spiritual,  eternal — the  Divine  revealing 
itself  in  the  external  and  through  the  external.  There- 
fore, language  must  reveal  this  law  in  and  through  it- 
self ;  it  must  be  the  expression  of  necessary  conformity 
to  law.  All  the  laws  of  the  inner  and  outer  world,  col- 
lectively and  singly,  must  be  revealed  in  language,  must 
lie  in  language  itself. 


*  In  this  case  Froebel's  play  on  the  word  comes  nearer  to  truth. 
Sprechen^  by  the  loss  of  r  becomes  in  Englisli  speaJc^  and  is  traceable  to  a 
root  which  si»nifies  to  break.,  to  split^i  to  scatter^  etc.  He  looks  here  upon 
8-prechen  as  Sich  beechen,  to  hreah  one's  self  which,  however,  belongs  to 
another  root— TV. 


212  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

§  79.  Language,  like  matliematics,  has  two  sides ;  it 
belongs  both  to  the  inner  and  to  the  outer  world. 

Language  as  evolved  from  man  proceeds,  therefore^ 
directly  from  the  human  mind ;  it  is  the  expression  of 
the  human  mind,  as  nature  is  the  expression  of  the  divine 
mind. 

The  question  whether  language  be  a  simple  product 
of  the  mind  or  an  imitation  of  nature  is  due  to  the 
adaptation  of  language  to  both  views,  an  adaptation  due 
to  the  fact  that  in  all  things  the  same  Divine  Spirit,  the 
same  spiritual,  divine  laws  operate ;  to  the  fact  that  the 
spirit  of  nature  and  that  of  man  are  one^  that  they  have 
the  same  source,  which  is  God. 

As  language  is  an  expression  of  man  and  nature,  and 
therefore  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  it  implies,  too,  a  knowl- 
edge of  nature  and  of  man,  and  therefore  a  revelation 
of  God. 

Viewed  in  the  light  of  the  study  of  nature,  language 
is  an  expression  of  energy  lifted  into  life ;  viewed  in  the 
light  of  the  study  of  man,  it  is  the  expression  of  the 
human  mind  Kfted  into  consciousness.  Language,  there- 
fore, must  be  born  as  the  spirit  of  man  enters  conscious- 
ness, and  is  inseparably  one  with  this  spirit. 

The  mediatory  character  of  language  implies  both 
physical  and  mathematical  attributes,  attributes  of  life 
and  of  motion.  Hence,  in  its  ultimate  word-elements — 
in  its  vowels,  semi-vowels,  and  consonants,  and  in  the 
letters  that  represent  these — language  expresses  the 
fundamental  attributes  and  relations  of  the  natural  as 
well  as  the  operations  of  the  spiritual. 

However  imperfect  and  fragmentary  our  objective 
knowledge  of  language  may  be,  it  clearly  reveals  the 


CHIEF   GROUPS   OF   SUBJECTS  OF   INSTRUCTION.      213 

inner  life  that  pervades  language  in  its  minutest  libers, 
and  renders  it  a  complete  organism.  In  spite  of  this 
imperfection  and  fragmentariness  of  our  experiments 
and  knowledge,  however,  we  can  not  repress  the  con- 
viction, corroborated  at  every  step,  that  in  every  lan- 
guage— primarily  in  our  mother-tongue  (German) — the 
sound  and  letters  in  their  combinations  express  definite 
and  fixed  mathematical,  physical,  physio-psychical  laws, 
resting  on  inner  necessity ;  that  the  representation  of 
an  object,  viewed  from  a  certain  standpoint,  by  a  word, 
necessarily  demands  certain  sounds  and  letters  and  no 
others,  so  that  each  word  is  the  necessary  product  of 
certain  word-elements,  just  as  each  material  chemical 
product  is  the  result  of  the  combination  of  certain  de- 
terminate elementary  substances. 

In  other  words,  the  word-elements  in  their  various 
combinations  represent,  as  in  a  picture,  the  natural  ob- 
jects, the  forms  of  the  mind  and  their  relations  in  ac- 
cordance with  their  innermost  nature  and  the  personal 
or  national  view  of  them. 

Only  a  moderate  attention  to  the  conformity  to  law, 
manifest  everywhere  in  the  natural  and  spiritual,  physi- 
cal and  psychical  world,  forces  upon  us  this  conformity 
to  law  in  the  formation  of  the  words  of  our  language. 
The  inner  conformity  to  law  and,  as  it  were,  the  vitality 
primarily  of  our  German  language  admit  of  no  doubt 
in  him  who  is  himself  animated  by  its  inner  life  and 
unity,  although  little  can  be  definitely  said  about  this, 
particularly  in  the  dull  forms  of  written  language. 

Well  might  this  deter  us 'from  asserting  this  con- 
formity to  law  in  language,  but  we  are  here  in  the  pre- 
dicament of  the  musical  amateur  deficient  in  musical 
IG 


214  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

culture.  Although  he  knows  and  can  say  but  little  con- 
cerning musical  laws,  and  still  less  compose  anything  in 
accordance  wdth  these  laws,  he  sees  necessity  and  con. 
formity  to  law  at  every  step  of  a  great  musical  produc- 
tion in  spite  of  all  its  apparent  freedom.  Even  one 
wholly  without  musical  culture  who  may  hear  that 
music  is  rejoiced  by  it,  although  he  has  not  the  slightest 
notion  of  the  law,  and  can  hold  fast  only  the  coarse 
rhythmic  phases,  at  best. 

Similarly  we  may  say  of  forms,  colors,  materials, 
and  forces,  that  w^e  are  surrounded  by  their  diversity 
and  their  various  effects  on  us  and  others,  without  any 
notion  or  knowledge  of  their  inner  unity  and  conformity 
to  law ;  but  our  inability  to  know  and  see  them  does  not 
alfect  the  existence  of  these  laws. 

The  same  is  true  of  our  mother-tongue  and  the 
more  subtle  laws  of  word-structure.  It  is  true  of  our 
mother-tongue,  because  we  speak  it  from  the  first  dawn 
of  self-consciousness.  Therefore,  it  seems  to  us  a  mere 
heap  of  sounds,  or,  at  best,  with  reference  to  its  visible 
mdividual  words  and  roots,  a  collection  of  motley  stones 
and  beautiful  flowers  from  which  we  can  make  bouquets 
and  a  variety  of  jewels.  The  words,  in  their  first  be- 
ginnings, their  so-called  roots,  seem  to  be  adventitious 
material  not  subject  to  higher  causes  of  production. 

But  as  an  organized  musical  whole  proceeds  from 
elementary  sounds,  as  an  organized  material  whole  pro- 
ceeds from  elementary  substances,  and  as  shapes  pro- 
ceed from  elementary  directions  of  forces,  so  in  lan- 
guage the  words  as  images  of  objects  and  as  expressions 
of  ideas  are  organized  wholes  proceeding  from  simpler 
elements. 


CHIEF   GROUPS   OF  SUBJECTS  OF   INSTRUr^TIOls.      215 

The  elements  of  words  (visibly,  the  letters)  are, 
therefore,  by  no  means  without  life,  forming  words  by 
arbitrary  or  accidental  contiguity;  but  they  designate 
originally  and  necessarily  elementary  notions,  having 
mathematical,  physical,  and  psychical  phases ;  they  have 
a  meaning,  and  in  the  formation  of  words  they  obey 
necessary  laws  of  co-ordination.  Every  object,  attribute, 
relation,  etc.,  appears  as  an  organized  concept,  the  prod- 
uct of  certain  elementary  notions  by  whose  intimate 
mutual  union  the  word  is  formed. 

[^Translator's  Synojpsis. — Here  follow  in  Froebel's 
book  a  number  of  more  or  less  fanciful  illustrations 
of  the  operation  of  this  law,  all  taken  from  the  Ger- 
man language.  Even  in  the  German  language,  how- 
ever, the  operation  of  the  law  is  nearly  concealed  or 
obliterated  by  other  influences,  and  complicated  by  dif- 
ferences in  "  points  of  view  "  that  may  have  prevailed 
among  different  tribes  in  the  formation  of  different 
words  for  different  ideas.  In  the  English  language 
these  disturbing  influeoces  are  notoriously  much  great- 
er, so  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  render  Froebel's 
illustrations  intelligible  to  the  English  reader  in  all 
their  details.  This  is  particularly  true  of  illustrations 
in  which  vowel-sounds  are  concerned,  whose  mobility 
renders  them  peculiarly  sensitive  to  every  influence  or 
change  of  condition,  however  minute. 

For  these  reasons,  I  content  myself  with  merely  in- 
dicating Froebel's  method  of  illustration,  with  the  help 
of  a  few  instances  in  which  the  Saxon  forms  of  English 
are  sufficiently  like  the  German  to  render  this  possible. 
1  feel  that  I  am  the  more  justified  in  this  as  Froebel, 
too,  confines  himself  to  a  series  of  illustrations,  and  does 


216  THE   EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

not  give  a  systematic  preseotation  of  tlie  whole  of  this 
interesting  study. 

Collating  words  such  as  fresh,  Z*^^^?  frolic,  freaky 
fruit,  friend,  fry,  and  again,  flee,  flight,  flame,  flx)at, 
flow,  flood,  floor,  flesh,  fleet,  he  finds  in  the  first  series 
the  expression  of  spirituality  manifested  in  a  diversity 
of  outward  activities  indicated  by  the  sounds /r,  and 
in  the  second  series  the  expression  of  spirituality  mani. 
fested  in  continuous  inner  activity  indicated  by  the 
sounds  fl.  In  both  series  the  sound  f  would  point  to 
the  spirituality,  r  and  I  being  due  to  its  different  mani- 
festations. 

Similarly,  the  sound  of  c  or  ^  in  the  words  crack, 
climb,  creejp,  crab,  cramp,  cry,  clear,  clad ;  corn,  kernel, 
cook,  keep,  keen,  kick,  kill,  king  /  knell,  knot,  knock, 
know,  knight,  knoll,  etc.,  gives  expression  to  the  opera- 
tion of  self-active  force  prominent  in  the  ideas  covered 
by  these  words. 

In  general,  he  arrives  at  the  law  that  vowels  repre- 
sent the  inner,  or  unity ;  consonants  (mutes),  the  outer, 
or  individuality ;  and  semi-vowels  (continuants  and 
sonants),  the  mediations,  or  diversity.] 

It  is  by  no  means  intended  here  to  systematize  these 
laws  of  language,  but  simply  to  insist  that  the  boy's  at- 
tention be  directed  to  them  at  an  early  period ;  his  un- 
biased observation  will  soon  teach  him  more  than  has 
been  indicated.  What  has  been  said  must,  therefore, 
suffice  to  direct  attention  to  the  mathematical,  physi- 
cal, and  psychical  attributes  of  language  by  which 
it  becomes  truly  an  image  of  the  inner  and  outer 
world. 

Of  course,  these  attributes  shoidd  be  studied  first  in 


CniEF  GROUPS   OF  SUBJECTS   OF  INSTRUCTION.     217 

our  mother-tongue.  However,  they  are  by  no  means 
the  exclusive  property  of  the  German,  but  are  found 
also  in  Greek  and  Latin  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  these 
languages.  Thus,  this  view  of  language  reveals  to  us 
-«even  an  inner  relationship  among  these  languages,  show- 
ing German,  Greek,  and  Latin  in  the  relationship  of 
soul,  life,  and  body. 

In  general,  our  children  would  reach  a  by  far  more 
thorough  insight  into  language,  if  in  our  teaching  we 
were  to  connect  the  words  more  with  real  ideas  of  the 
things  and  objects  designated.  Language  would  then 
cease  to  be  for  us  merely  a  system  of  sounds  and  words, 
and  would  become  a  real  living  organism.  Thus,  it 
would  lead  more  to  the  study  of  things,  to  the  study  of 
the  essential  nature  of  each  thing  and  of  the  word  itself. 
Thus,  our  language  would  again  become  truly  a  living 
language — i.  e.,  bom  from  life  and  generating  life; 
whereas  now  it  threatens  by  merely  external  study  to 
sink  more  and  more  into  death. 

[Froebel  devoted  himself  at  different  times  with  much  zeal  to 
the  study  of  languages,  particularly  of  the  French,  Latin,  and  Greek. 
In  1811  he  became  deeply  interested  in  the  Oriental  languages, 
chiefly  on  account  of  their  kinship  with  the  German.  The  tendency 
to  seek  a  definite  absolute  meaning  in  each  sound  and  letter  was  a 
characteristic  of  the  philology  of  his  time.  Froebel,  in  his  great 
love  of  the  German  language,  became  deeply  involved  in  this  ten- 
dency. He  became  an  enthusiastic  follower  of  RUckert,  who  found 
in  eh  (pronounced  with  the  long  sound  of  the  English  a)  the  root  of 
all  languages.  E  (a)  is  the  root  of  all  vowels,  h  is  the  root  of  all  con- 
sonants. This  to  him  is  shown  in  words  like  eh  {ante,  formerly), 
ewig  (eternal),  etc.  Froebel  finds  corroboration,  too,  in  the  word  ehe 
(matrimony).  Later  developments  of  philology  have  shown  the 
futility  of  these  deductions  from  a  law  of  inner  unity  which  still 
awaits  formulation. — Tr,'\ 


218  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

§  80.  Among  the  different  things  which,  in  addition 
to  the  things  previously  considered,  language  offers  for 
consideration,  the  law  of  rhythm  claims  special  attention. 
This  law  appears  in  the  different  parts  of  words,  as  well 
as  in  the  combinations  of  words;  it  proves  both  the 
spiritual  origin  of  language  and  its  conformity  to  nat- 
ural laws  (see  §  33). 

The  rhythmic   law   of   language,  its  universal  ex- 
pression of  life,  belongs  to  it  originally  and  inseparably 
as  much  as  life  belongs  to  the  things  represented  in  lan- 
guage.    Hence,  all  primitive  language  expressions,  as 
representations  of  active  inner  and  outer  life,  are  neces- 
sarily rhythmic;  and  the  more  so  because  man  in  hisl 
childhood  and  youth,  as  well  as  humanity  as  a  whole  inx 
its  childhood  and  youth,  has  a  more  living  and  keener  f 
perception  of  the  inner  life  of  things.     Therefore,  for 
early  youth  language  representation  should  assume  a  ; 
rhythmic  form,  for  this  is  its  first  form  in  the  early 
youth  of  mankind ;  and,  in  general,  man  sees  the  whole 
in  its  rhythmic  organization  and  in  its  connection  with 
man  before  he  sees  its  particulars  in  their  respective  in- 
dividuality.    Thus,  a  number  of  considerations  point  to 
rhythmic  language  as  necessarily  belonging  to  the  early 
youth  of  man.     The  loss  of  this  has  deprived  him  and 
mankind  as  a  whole  of  one  of  the  foremost,  most  primi- 
tive, and  most  natural  means  of  elevation. 

If,  then,  we  would  restore  our  children  to  a  true, 
higher,  spiritual,  and  inner  life,  we  must  again  awaken 
in  them  that  inner  life  of  language,  of  nature-contem- 
plation, and  of  feeling.  The  way  to  this  is  so  easy. 
"We  only  need  to  let  the  child  live  in  accordance  with 
its  own  nature  and  to  remove  caref  ally  whatever  might 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      219 

destroy  or  annihilate  this  natural  life.  Instead  of  this 
we  put  an  end  to  budding  life  with  crude,  dead,  heart- 
less words,  and  frighten  back  into  rigid  inactivity  what- 
ever of  life  strives  to  free  itself. 

Thus,   we   say,  "  Come,  dear   child,  see   the  little 

violet.     Is  it  not  nice  ?    Break  it  off,  and  put  it  in  some 

water,  but  take  good  care  of  it.     It  would  be  a  great 

pity  if  you  should  lose  it." 

How  different  would  be  the  impression  and  the 
effect  upon  the  same  child's  mind,  if  we  should  say 
more  rhythmically : 

Come  and  see  the         ' 

—  v_y        >->  —      v^ 

Blossoming  violet ; 
and  then  give  expression  to  the  child's  feelings,  thus : 

Blossoming  violet !  how 

Much  I  do  love  thee  (you)  I 

Let  the  skeptic  who  considers  this  above  the  capacity 
of  the  child  listen  to  children,  simply,  naturally,  and 
thoughtfully  led.  He  will  find  how  very  early  in  the 
simplest  expressions  of  feeling  and  accounts  of  observa- 
tions they  express  themselves  unwittingly  in  more  or 
less  rhythmic  speech. 

It  is  true  there  are  few  such  children;  but  there 


220  THE  EDUCATION  OF   MAN. 

would  be  more,  were  we  not  ignorantly  blunting  so 
many  tendencies  in  our  children  or  starving  them  into 
inanition. 

And,  nevertheless,  we  expect  our  children,  who  have 
grown  up  so  barren  and  empty  of  feeling,  to  understand 
poets  and  nature  at  a  later  period.  Then,  the  drill- 
master's  art — even  in  our  day  and  with  the  children  of 
cultured  parents — is  expected  to  impart  its  elocutionary 
tricks.  Behold  the  poor  child,  vain  or  trembling,  con- 
ceited or  timid,  reciting  his  piece,  and  say  who  is  most 
to  be  pitied,  the  child,  his  teacher,  the  poem,  the  poet,  or 
the  audience. 

[The  instinctive  tendency  to  rhythmic  utterance  in  children  is 
quite  manifest  in  the  character  of  their  first  words— papa,  mama, 
td-ta,  etc. ;  and  in  the  delight  they  find  in  the  rhythmic  repetition  of 
seemingly  meaningless  syllables,  which  to  many  is  mere  senseless 
jabbering.    Preyer  has  recorded  some  of  these  utterances  from  the 

"  monologues  "  of  his  infant  boy — e.  g.,  eda,  didl-dadl,  dldoh-dldah  ; 

-^v^         —     v^         -^v^         -^v^        -^v>»        \->        —    v^  —    ^J    —    \^  — 

papa,  mama,  meme,  mimi,  momo  ;  e — mama — mamemama — ma — 

-^.      _      _^      __ 
— me — ma — me — ma.    Perez  records  the  following:  "A  little  girl, 
two  years  and  two  months  old,  went  on  repeating  from  morning  to 

night  for  a  fortnight,  toro,  toro,  toro,  rapapi,  rapapi,  rapapi,  a 
rhythmic  monotone  which  caused  her  great  delight.  Another  child, 
nearly  three  years  old,  for  three  months  went  on  repeating  these 
three  syllables,  articulated  in  a  sonorous  voice,  tahille',  tahille', 
tahille'r 

I  am  favored  with  clear  remembrances  from  the  time  of  my 
babyhood,  and  can  even  now  see  myself  lying  in  my  crib  keenly  en- 
joying the  rhythmic  spell  of  similar  exercises. 

I  would  here  again  refer  the  reader  to  Spencer.  In  "First 
Principles,"  chapter  x,  he  treats  on  "  The  Rhythm  of  Motion  "  quite 
exhaustively. —  Tr.] 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      221 

§  81.  Eeligion,  nature,  and  language  place  tlie  child, 
the  boj,  and  the  man — developed  in  accordance  with 
these  principles — in  the  midst  of  all  life.  He  finds 
himself  unable  to  hold  fast  for  himself  and  his  memory 
the  great  number  of  facts,  not  even  as  such,  and  much 
less  in  their  relations  to  time  and  place;  and  one  ex- 
perience seems  to  displace  another.  A  still  richer  life 
is  developed  in  his  soul,  so  rich  that  the  soul,  unable  to 
compass  its  abundance  and  wealth,  overflows  with  it. 
This  superabundance  now  meets  him  again  from  with- 
out as  an  independent,  determinate,  seemingly  second 
life,  and  he  can  and  does  grasp  it  in  its  definiteness. 
And  this  is  well,  for  this  awakens  in  him  the  irresistible 
impulse  and  imperative  need  to  snatch  from  oblivion 
for  himself  and  others  the  blossoms  and  fruits  of  the 
rich  but  passing  inner  life,  and  to  hold  fast  by  means  of 
external  symbols  the  fleeting  external  life  in  shape, 
place,  time,  and  other  circumstances. 

Thus,  the  art  of  writing  is  developed  in  each  indi- 
vidual human  being  in  the  general  historical  way  and  in 
agreement  with  the  general  course  of  development 
of  the  human  mind  (see  §  24).  Indeed,  we  find  ever 
again  that  the  same  laws  which  have  guided  man- 
kind in  its  development,  hold  good,  too,  in  the  devel- 
opment of  each  individual  human  being ;  and  we  find 
at  the  same  time  that  an  externally  richer  life  leads 
necessarily  to  jpictorial  hieroglyphics,  and  an  intern- 
ally richer  life  to  conventional  letters  [alphabetic  writ- 
ing]. 

However,  both  the  pictorial  and  alphabetic  writing 
imply  an  exceedingly  rich  life — only  out  of  this  richness 
writing  was  bom ;  and  even  now  the  true  desire  and 


222  THE   EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

need  of  it  are  thus  developed  in  the  child,  in  each 
human  being. 

Therefore,  from  this  point  of  view,  too,  it  is  im- 
perative that  parents  and  teachers  should  be  careful  to 
render  the  inner  life  of  their  children  as  rich  as  possible, 
not  so  much  in  diversity  as  in  inner  significance  and  ac- 
tivity. Without  this,  the  art  of  writing  comes  without 
a  corresponding  inner  need,  and  the  mother-tongue  be- 
comes— what  it  is  now  for  so  many  in  a  very  high  de- 
gree— extraneous,  meaningless,  dead.  Only  if  in  each 
particular  we  choose  again  the  great  necessary  highway 
of  humanity  as  a  whole,  the  great  and  vigorous  early 
life  of  humanity  comes  to  us  again  in  and  through  our 
children ;  the  enfeebled  mental  qualities  and  faculties, 
the  weakened  powers  of  intuition  and  insight  will  come 
back  to  us  in  their  full  vigor  (see  §  16). 

And  why,  seeing  that  every  boy  endeavors  to  lead 
us  on  this  way,  should  we  not  earnestly  seek  it  ?  Here 
we  see  a  boy  making  a  sketch  of  the  apple-teee  on 
which  he  discovered  a  nest  with  young  birds,  there 
another  busy  over  the  picture  of  the  kite  he  sent  up 
high  into  the  air.  Before  me  a  little  six-year  old  child, 
in  self-active  endeavor,  without  external  compulsion, 
draws,  in  a  book  kept  for  this  purpose,  representations 
of  strange  animals  he  saw  the  day  before  in  a  menagerie. 

Who,  having  the  charge  of  little  children,  has  not 
been  asked  for  some  paper  to  write  a  letter  to  father  or 
brother?  The  little  boy  is  urged  to  this  by  the  in- 
tensity of  his  inner  life  which  he  would  communicate 
to  these.  It  is  not  imitation,  he  has  seen  no  one  writing, 
but  he  knows  how  he  can  gratify  his  desire.  To  him 
his  marks,  resembling  one  another  quite  closely,  mean 


CHIEF   GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      223 

different  words  which  he  intended  to  write  to  the  person 
addressed  ;  and  we  see  here  a  manifestation  of  the  inner 
desire  for  symbolic  writing,  as  in  the  former  cases  the 
mner  desire  for  pictorial  writing  was  shown. 

There  are,  indeed,  thoughtful  boys  endowed  with 
great  intuitive  power  for  the  spiritual  with  whom  one 
might  develop  in  the  strictly  historical  manner  the 
want  and  the  invention  of  pictorial  and  symbolic  writ- 
ing. It  is  a  well-known  fact,  too,  that  larger  boys 
frequently  invent  their  own  alphabets.  Certainly  w^e 
should  always  proceed  in  some  such  way ;  we  should 
here,  as  in  all  instruction,  start  from  a  certain  inner 
want  of  the  boy.  Indeed,  to  a  certain  extent  such  a 
want  is  indispensable  if  the  boy  is  to  be  taught  with 
profit  and  success. 

There  is  in  this  a  source  of  many  of  the  errors  in  our 
schools.  We  teach  our  children  without  having  aroused 
an  inner  want  for  the  instruction  and  after  repressing 
everything  that  was  previously  in  the  child.  How  can 
such  instruction  be  profitable  ? 

§  82.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  irresistible  impulse 
of  a  soul  overflowing  with  superabundance  of  life  in 
some  direction,  and  the  desire  to  hold  fast  this  wealth 
gave  rise  to  waiting;  this  art,  therefore,  appears  as 
the  fruit  of  thoughtful  self-observation.  Similarly,  the 
written  characters  or  letters  can  not  have  been  chosen 
arbitrarily,  and  must  have  some  connection  with  the 
idea  designated  and  with  the  growth  of  this  idea. 

Although  the  laws  to  which  letters  owe  their  origin 
and  development  have  become  obscured,  the  little  that 
is  left  of  their  first  rudiments,  seems  to  point  unequiv- 
ocally to  an  inner  connection  between  the   form  and 


224  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

the  meaning — e.  g.,  the  letter  0  as  symbol  in  the  word 
for  the  idea  of  absolute  self -limitation,  and  the  letter  8 
as  symbol  in  the  word  for  the  idea  of  a  return  to 
self.' 

An  examination  of  the  original  Phoenician  and  later 
Roman  characters  readily  reveals  in  a  number  of  them 
a  definite  relation  between  the  form  of  the  letter  and 
the  idea  it  stands  for  in  the  word.  However,  even  if 
the  original  definite  connection  between  the  letter  and 
the  meaning  of  the  word  could  no  longer  be  proved, 
some  such  connection  should  be  assumed  on  the  slight- 
est foundation  for  the  purposes  of  instruction.  Nothing 
should  ever  be  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  human  be- 
ing in  purely  arbitrary  connection — in  a  connection  that 
does  not  admit  at  least  the  possibility  of  discovering  a 
necessary  inner  reason.  The  neglect  of  this  makes  in- 
struction in  writing,  at  present,  so  mechanical,  lifeless, 
and  dispiriting.  [A  sentence  relating  to  the  Gothic  and 
Latin  styles  of  type  is  omitted  here]. 

§  83.  I  shall  here  add  merely  the  suggestion  that  in 
the  same  way  reading  again  enters  into  its  original  and 
natural  relationship  to  the  human  being  and  to  the 
learner.  Reading  is  the  necessary  outcome  of  the  de- 
sire to  render  again  audible  to  himself  or  others,  to  re- 
suscitate, as  it  were,  what  has  been  written  down. 

Writing  and  reading,  which  necessarily  imply  a  liv- 
ing knowledge  of  language  to  a  certain  extent,  lift  man 
beyond  every  other  known  creature  and  bring  him 
nearer  the  realization  of  his  destiny.  Through  the 
practice  of  these  arts  he  attains  personality.  The  en- 
deavor to  learn  these  arts  makes  the  scholar  and  the 
school.     The  possession  of  the  alphabet  places  the  pos- 


CHIEF  GROUPS  OF  SUBJECTS   OF  INSTRUCTION.      225 

sibilitj  of  self-consciousness  within  his  reach,  for  it 
alone  renders  true  self-knowledge  possible,  by  enabling 
him  to  place  his  own  nature  objectively  before  himself, 
as  it  were ;  it  connects  him  clearly  and  definitely  with 
the  past  and  future,  brings  him  into  universal  relation- 
ship with  the  nearest  things,  and  gives  him  certainty 
concerning  the  most  remote. 

The  alphabet  thus  jplaces  man  within  reach  of  the 
highest  and  f idlest  earthly  perfection.  Writing  is  the 
first  chief  act  of  free  and  self  active  consciousness. 

IS'ow,  since  reading  and  writing  are  of  such  great 
importance  to  man,  the  boy  (when  he  begins  to  practice 
them)  should  possess  a  sufficient  amount  of  strength  and 
insight.  The  possibility  of  self -consciousness  must  have 
been  developed  in  him  ;  the  inner  need  and  desire  to 
know  them  must  have  manifested  itself  clearly  and  defi- 
nitely, before  he  begins  to  learn  these  arts. 

If  he  is  to  learn  these  arts  in  a  truly  profitable  way, 
the  boy  must  himself  already  have  become  something 
of  which  he  can  become  self-conscious,  instead  of  labor- 
ing to  become  conscious  of  what  he  has  not  yet  come 
to  be  ;  otherwise,  all  his  knowledge  will  be  hollow,  dead, 
empty,  extraneous,  mechanical.  For,  if  the  foundation 
is  dead  and  mechanical,  how  could  we  expect  later  on 
to  see  developed  therefrom  life-activity  and  true  life, 
which  is  the  highest  prize  of  all  earnest  endeavor ;  how 
could  man  truly  attain  his  destiny,  which  is  life  ? 

D.  Art  and  Objects  of  Art, 

%  84.  If  what  has  been  said  heretofore  concerning 
the  objective   and  central  points,  or  axes,  of  human 


226  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

life  is  surveyed  from  a  common  point  of  view/lmman 
aims  will  present  themselves  under  tliree  aspects.  There 
is  either  a  tendency  to  inward  repose  and  life,  or  a  ten- 
dency  to  the  study  and  comprehension  of  the  external, 
or  a  tendency  to  direct  representation  of  the  inter- 
nal. 

The  first  is  the  prevailing  tendency  of  religion  ;  the 
second,  of  the  contemplation  of  nature ;  the  third,  of 
self-development  and  self-contemplation. 

Similarly,  it  will  be  found  that  mathematics  is  con- 
cerned more  with  the  representation  of  the  external  in 
the  internal,  with  the  representation  of  inner  conformity 
to  universal  law,  with  the  representation  of  nature  in 
inner  (human)  terms.  For  this  reason  mathematics 
mediates  between  nature  and  man ;  it  has  reference  more 
to  the  understanding. 

Language  is  concerned  more  with  the  outward  rep- 
resentation of  inner  perception,  has  reference  more  to 
reason.  There  is  still  wanting  for  the  complete  repre- 
sentation of  his  nature  as  a  whole  the  representation  of 
inner  life  as  such,  of  the  mind.  This  representation  of 
the  internal,  of  the  inner  man  as  such,  is  accomplished 
in  art. 

§  85.  With  one  exception  all  human  ideas  are  rela- 
tive ;  mutual  relations  connect  all  ideas,  and  they  are 
distinct  only  in  their  terminal  points. 

Therefore,  there  is  in  art,  too,  a  side  where  it 
touches  mathematics,  the  understanding ;  another  where 
it  touches  the  world  of  language,  reason  ;  a  third  where 
— although  itself  clearly  a  representation  of  the  inner 
— it  coincides  with  the  representation  of  nature ;  and  a 
fourth  where  it  coincides  with  religion. 


CHIEF   GROUPS   OF  SUBJECTS   OF   INSTRUCTION.      227 

Yet  all  these  relationships  will  have  to  be  disre- 
garded, when  it  is  considered  with  reference  to  the  edu- 
cation of  man,  in  order  to  lead  him  to  an  appreciation 
of  art.  Here,  art  will  be  considered  only  in  its  ultimate 
unity  as  the  pure  representation  of  the  inner.  We 
notice  at  once  that  art,  or  the  representation  of  inner 
life  in  art,  must  be  differentiated  in  accordance  with  the 
material  it  uses. 

]^ow,  the  material,  as  an  earthly  phenomenon,  may 
be  motion  as  such,  but  audible  in  sound,  as  tones  which 
vanish  while  being  produced ;  or  it  may  be  visible  in 
lines,  surfaces,  and  colors ;  or  it  may  be  corporeal,  mass- 
ive. Here,  too,  as  in  all  actual  tilings,  there  are,  how- 
ever, many  transitions  and  combinations. 

Art,  as  representation  by  tones,  is  music,  particu- 
larly song.  Art,  as  representation  by  color,  is  painting. 
Art,  as  representation  by  plastic  material,  is  modeling. 
The  last  two  are  connected  by  drawing.  This,  however, 
may  be  considered  simply  as  representation  by  lines,  so 
that  painting  would  appear  as  representation  by  sur- 
faces, and  modeling  as  representation  by  solids. 

On  account  of  the  mediating  quality  of  drawing,  it 
appears  very  early  as  a  phase  in  human  development, 
and  we  noticed  that  even  at  an  earlier  stage  children 
have  the  desire  to  draw  (see  §  36).  Even  the  desire  to 
express  ideas  by  modeling  and  coloring  is  frequently 
found  at  this  earlier  stage  of  childhood,  certainly  at  the 
very  beginning  of  the  stage  of  boyhood  (see  §  49). 

This  proves  clearly  that  art  and  appreciation  of  art 
constitute  a  general  capacity  or  talent  of  man,  and  should 
be  cared  for  early,  at  the  latest  in  boyhood. 

This  does  not  imply  that  the  boy  is  to  devote  him- 


228  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAX. 

self  chiefly  to  art  and  is  to  become  an  artist ;  but  that 
he  should  be  enabled  to  understand  and  appreciate 
works  of  art.  At  the  same  time,  a  true  scholastic 
education  will  be  sure  to  guard  him  against  the  error 
of  claiming  to  be  an  artist,  unless  there  is  in  him  the 
true  artistic  calling. 

A  universal  and  comprehensive  plan  of  human  edu- 
cation must,  therefore,  necessarily  consider  at  an  early 
period  singing,  drawing,  painting,  and  modeling ;  it  will 
not  leave  them  to  an  arbitrary,  frivolous  whimsicalness, 
but  treat  them  as  serious  objects  of  the  school.  Its  in- 
tention will  not  be  to  make  each  pupil  an  artist  in  some 
one  or  all  of  the  arts,  but  to  secure  to  each  human  be- 
ing full  and  all-sided  development,  to  enable  him  to  see 
man  in  the  universality  and  all-sided  energy  of  his  nature, 
and,  particularly,  to  enable  him  to  understand  and  ap- 
preciate the  products  of  true  art. 

Like  drawing,  but  in  a  different  respect,  representa- 
tioQ  in  rhythmic  speech  is  mediatory.  As  representa- 
tion of  the  ideal  world  in  language,  as  the  condensed 
representation,  as  it  were,  of  the  ethereal  spiritual 
world  of  ideas,  as  the  tranquil  representation  of  ab- 
solute, eternally  moving,  and  moved  life,  it  belongs 
to  art. 

In  everything,  in  life  and  religion,  hence  also  in  art, 
the  ultimate  and  supreme  aim  is  the  clear  representation 
of  man  as  such.  In  its  tendency.  Christian  art  is  the 
highest,  for  it  aims  to  represent  in  everything,  particu- 
larly in  and  through  man,  the  eternally  permanent,  the 
divine.     Man  is  the  highest  object  of  human  art. 

Thus,  we  have  indicated  in  their  totality  the  object, 
the  aim,  and  the  meaning  of  human  life,  as  they  are  re- 


CHIEF   GROUPS   OF   SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION.      229 

vealed  even  in  tlie  life  of  the  boy  as  a  scholar.  It  still 
remains  to  consider  the  sequences  and  connections  in 
the  development  of  successive  phases  of  his  nature  at 
the  scholastic  stage,  as  well  as  the  character,  the  order, 
and  form  of  the  instruction  by  which  the  school  seeks 
to  aid  the  boy  in  this  development. 


17 


YI. 


CONNECTION  BETWEEN  THE  SCHOOL  AND 
THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SUBJECTS  OF 
INSTEUCTION    IT    IMPLIES. 

A.  General  Considerations. 

§  86.  In  the  family  the  child  grows  up  to  boyhood 
and  pupilage ;  therefore,  the  school  must  link  itself  to 
the  family.  The  union  of  the  school  and  of  Jife,  of 
domestic  and  scholastic  life,  is  the  first  and  indispensable 
requisite  of  a  perfect  human  education  of  this  period. 
The  union  of  family  and  school  hfe  is  the  indispensable 
requisite  of  the  education  of  this  period,  jf-meii,  indeed, 
are  ever  to  free  themselves  from  the  oppressive  burden! 
and  emptiness  of  merely  extraneously  communicated! 
knowledge,  heaped  up  in  memory  ;  if  they  would  ever  • 
rise  to  the  joy  and  vigor  of  a  knowledge  of  the  inner 
nature  and  essence  of  things,  to  a  living  knowledge  of 
things — a  knowledge  which,  like  a  sound,  vigorous 
tree,  like  a  family  or  generation  full  of  the  joy  and 
consciousness  of  Kfe,  is  spontaneously  developed  from 
within  ;  if  they  would  cease  at  last  to  play  in  word  and 
deed  with  the  valueless  shadows  of  things,  and  to  go 
through  life  in  a  mask. 

It  would  prove  a  boon  to  our  children  and  a  blessing 


THE  SCHOOL   AND   THE  FAMILY.  231 

to  coming  generations  if  we  could  but  come  to  see  that 
we  possess  a  great  oppressive  load  of  extraneous  and 
merely  external  information  and  culture,  that  we  fool- 
ishly seek  to  increase  this  from  day  to  day,  and  that  we 
are  very  poor  in  inner  knowledge,  in  information  evolved 
from  our  own  soul  and  grown  up  with  it. 

We  should  at  last  cease  making  a  vain  display  of 
the  thoughts,  the  knowledge,  and  even  the  feelings  of 
others.  We  should  no  longer  seek  the  highest  glory  of 
our  education  and  of  our  schools  in  efforts  to  garnish 
the  minds  of  our  children  with  foreign  knowledge  and 
skill. 

This  is,  indeed,  an  old  disease ;  for,  if  we  inquire 
how  the  German  people  has  obtained  the  first  principles 
of  its  present  knowledge,  we  discover  unequivocally  that 
those  first  principles  always  came  from  a  distance,  from 
foreign  parts,  or  were  even  forced  upon  it  from  without. 
Therefore,  we  have  not  even  a  generally  accepted  term 
in  our  mother-tongue  for  these  first  principles,  elements, 
or  rudiments. 

The  strong  German  mind,  it  is  true,  digested  this 
foreign  acquisition  and  assimilated  it,  but  it  nevertheless 
continued  to  wear  the  character  of  its  extraneous  origin. 
For  thousands  of  years  we  have  worn  these  fetters.' 
Shall  we,  therefore,  never  begin  to  plant  in  our  own 
minds  a  tree  of  life  and  knowledge,  and  let  it  germinate 
and  nurse  it,  that  it  may  unfold  in  beauty,  put  out  vig- 
orous and  sound  blossoms,  and  ripen  delicious  fruit, 
which  may  fall  from  the  tree  in  this  world  and  yield  a 
new  harvest  in  the  world  beyond  ? 

Shall  we  never  cease  stamping  our  children  like 
coins  and  adorning  them  with  foreign  inscriptions  and 


232  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

foreign  portraits,  instead  of  enabling  them  to  walk 
among  us  as  the  images  of  God,  as  developments  of  the 
law  and  life  implanted  in  them  by  God  and  graced  with 
the  expression  of  the  divine  ? 

Are  we  afraid  that  our  children  might  excel  us  ? 
What  people  and  what  time  will  be  high-minded  enough 
to  deny  itself  for  the  sake  of  its  children  and  in  the  in- 
terest of  a  pure  humanity  ?  N^ay,  what  father  and  what 
family  will  allow  its  soul  to  be  tilled  with  this  thought, 
and  thus  multiply  and  enhance  its  inner  power  mani- 
fold? 

Only  the  quiet,  secluded  sanctuary  of  the  family  can 
give  back  to  us  the  welfare  of  mankind.  In  the  foun- 
dation of  every  new  family,  the  Heavenly  Father, 
eternally  working  the  welfare  of  the  human  race,  speaks 
to  man  through  the  heaven  he  has  opened  in  the  heart 
of  its  founders.  With  the  foundation  of  every  new 
family  there  is  issued  to  mankind  and  to  each  individual 
human  being  the  call  to  represent  humanity  in  pure  de- 
velopment, to  represent  man  in  his  ideal  purity  (see 
§48). 

It  is  sufficiently  clear,  too,  that  the  German  mind 
can  no  longer  be  satisfied  with  the  lifeless  extraneous 
knowledge  and  insight  of  the  time ;  that  a  culture  of 
mere  external  polish  can  no  longer  suffice,  if,  indeed, 
we  are  to  become  self -centered,  worthy  children  of  God. 
Therefore,  we  need  and  seek  knowledge  and  insight 
that  have  sprung  into  vigorous  and  healthy  life  in  our 
own  minds  and  grown  strong  in  the  sunshine  and  con- 
ditions of  our  own  life. 

Or  would  we  ever  again  cover  with  rubbish  the 
source  of  life  which  God  has  opened  in  the  heart  and 


THE  SCHOOL   AND   THE   FAMILY.  233 

mind  of  every  human  being  ?  Would  we  deprive  our 
children  and  pupils  of  the  unspeakable  joy  of  finding 
in  their  souls  the  source  of  everlasting  life?  Would 
you,  parents  and  teachers,  continue  to  compel  your 
children  to  stop  up  this  source  of  life  with  valueless 
waste  and  to  hedge  it  with  thorns  ? 

You  say  :  "  Only  thus  can  they  get  along  in  the 
world.  Children  will  soon  be  grown  up.  Who  will 
then  take  care  of  them  ?  What  will  thej  eat  ?  Where- 
with will  they  be  clothed  ? " 

Ye  fools !  I  shall  not  answer  you  by  saying,  "  Seek 
ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,"  etc. ;  for  in  your  es- 
trangement from  God  and  from  yourself  you  could  not 
understand  this.  But  again  and  again  I  shall  say  unto' 
you,  that  we  are  not  here  concerned  with  a  dull,  brood- 
ing life,  empty  of  knowledge  and  works  (see  §  23). 

Mankind  is  meant  to  enjoy  a  degree  of  knowledge! 
and  insight,  of  energy  and  efiiciency  of  which  at  present  i 
we  have  no  conception  ;  for  who  has  fathomed  the  des- 1 
tiny  of  heaven-born  mankind  ?  But  these  things  are  to 
be  developed  in  each  individual,  growing  forth  in  eachi 
one  in  the  vigor  and  might  of  youth,  as  newly  created! 
self-productions. 

The  boy  is  to  take  up  his  future  worl^,  which  nowT/ 
has  become  his  calling,  not  indolently,  in  sullen  gloom, 
but  cheerfully  and  joyously,  trusting  God  and  nature, 
rejoicing  in  the  manifold  prosperity  of  his  work. 
Peace,  harmony,  moderation,  and  all  the  high  civil  and 
human  virtues  will  dwell  in  his  soul  and  in  his  house, 
and  he  will  secure  through  and  in  the  circle  of  his 
activity  the  contentment  for  which  all  strive. 

Neither  will  he  say  that  his  son  may  take  up  any 


234-  THE  EDUCATION  OF   MAN. 

business  but  his  own,  the  most  ungrateful  of  all ;  nor 
will  he  insist  that  his  son  shall  take  up  this  business 
which  he  himself  carries  on  profitably  and  with  satis- 
faction to  himself.  He  will  see  that  the  smallest  busi- 
ness may  be  carried  on  in  a  great  way,  that  every  busi- 
ness may  be  ennobled  and  made  worthy  of  man.  He 
will  see  that  the  smallest  power,  cheerfully  and  rightly 
applied  to  any  work,  will  secure  bread,  clothing,  and 
shelter,  as  well  as  respect ;  he  will,  therefore,  feel  no 
anxiety  concerning  the  future  welfare  of  his  children, 
whose  soul-development  has  been  his  chief  care. 

§  87.  The  various  directions  of  this  unified  school 
and  family  life,  of  this  active  educational  life,  are  in- 
dicated by  the  degree  of  development  man  has  attained 
at  this  stage,  by  the  inner  and  outer  needs  of  the  boy 
entering  upon  this  stage  of  pupilage.  They  are,  of 
necessity,  the  following : 

a.  The  arousing,  strengthening,  and  cultivation  of  the 
religious  sense ;  the  sense  that  brings  the  soul  of  man 
into  ever-more  living  unity  with  God;  the  sense  that 
feels  and  holds  fast  the  unity  in  all  the  apparent  di- 
versity of  things,  and  by  whose  vigor  and  activity  the 
boy's  life  and  actions  are  brought  into  harmony  with 
this  unity.  •  For  this  purpose  we  have  the  memorizing 
of  religious  utterances  concerning  nature,  man,  and 
their  relation  to  God,  and  particularly  for  prayer ;  fur- 
nishing him  a  mirror,  as  it  were,  in  which  the  boy  may 
see,  as  in  a  picture,  his  feelings,  intuitions,  and  tenden- 
cies in  their  original  unity  with  God,  and  thus  become 
conscious  of  them  and  hold  them  fast  in  this  aspect. 

h.  Consideration,  knowledge,  and  cultivation  of  the 
body  as  the  servant  of  the  mind  and  the  medium  for 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  235 

the  representation  of  its  being,  to  be  developed  in  or- 
derly graded  exercises. 

(?.  Observation  and  study  of  nature  and  the  external 
world,  proceeding  from  the  nearest  surroundings  to  the 
more  remote. 

d.  Memorizing  of  short  poetical  representations  of 
nature  and  life,  particularly  of  short  poems  that  impart 
life  to  the  objects  of  nature  in  the  nearest  surroundings, 
and  significance  to  the  incidents  of  home-life,  showing 
them,  as  in  a  mirror,  in  their  pure  and  deep  meaning. 
This  is  to  be  done  particularly  for  the  purposes  of  song 
and  in  song. 

e.  Exercises  in  language  starting  with  the  study  of 
nature  and  the  external  world  and  passing  over  to  the 
inner  world,  but  always  with  strict  reference  to  lan- 
guage as  the  audible  rnedium  of  representation. 

f.  Exercises  in  systematic  outward  corporeal  repre- 
sentation, proceeding  from  the  simple  to  the  complex. 
Here  are  included  representations  by  means  of  more  or 
less  prepared  material  (building,  paper,  card-board,  wood- 
work, etc.),  as  well  as  modeling  with  plastic  material. 

g.  Exercises  in  representation  with  lines  on  a  plane, 
and  in  constant,  visible  relation  to  the  vertical  and  hori- 
zontal direction,  the  media  for  the  apprehension  of  all 
external  shapes.  These  directions  in  their  repetitions 
constitute  a  net- work  of  lines,  which  is  to  be  the  outer 
law  for  these  drawing  exercises. 

A.  Study  of  colors  in  their  differences  and  resem- 
blances, and  representation  of  these  in  prescribed  out- 
lines, with  special  reference  to  the  form  of  the  outline 
(coloring  of  outline  pictures)  or  to  the  color-relations 
(painting  in  the  square  net-work). 


236  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

i.  Plaj,  or  representations  and  exercises  of  all  kinds 
in  free  activity. 

j.  ]N"arration  of  stories  and  legends,  fables  and  fairy- 
tales, with  reference  to  the  incidents  of  the  day,  of  the 
seasons,  of  life,  etc. 

All  this  is  interspersed  in  the  ordinary  school  and 
family  life,  with  the  ordinary  occupations  of  home  and 
school. 

For  boys  of  this  age  should  have  some  definite 
domestic  duties  to  perform.  They  might  even  receive 
regular  instruction  from  mechanics  or  farmers,  such  as 
has  been  frequently  given  by  fathers  inspired  by  vigor- 
ous and  active  natural  insight.  Especially  should  older 
boys  frequently  be  set  by  parents  and  teachers  to  doing 
things  independently  and  alone  (i.  e.,  errands),  so  that 
they  may  attain  firmness  and  the  art  of  self-examination 
in  their  actions.  It  is  very  desirable  that  such  boys 
should  devote  daily  at  least  one  or  two  hours  to  some 
definite  external  pursuit,  some  externally  produTrtive 
work.  It  is  surely  one  of  the  greatest  faults  of  our  cur- 
rent school  arrangements,  especially  of  the  so-called 
Latin  and  high  schools,  that  the  pupils  are  wholly  de- 
barred from  outwardly  productive  work.  It  is  futile  to 
object  that  the  boy  at  this  age,  if  he  is  to  reach  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  skill  and  insight,  ought  to  direct  his 
whole  strength  to  the  learning  of  words,  to  verbal  in- 
struction, to  intellectual  culture.  On  the  contrary, 
genuine  experience  shows  that  external,  physical, 
productive  activity  interspersed  in  intellectual  work 
strengthens  not  only  the  body  but  in  a  very  marked 
degree  the  mind  in  its  various  phases  of  development, 
so  that    the   mind,  after  such  a  refreshing  work-bath 


THE    SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  237 

(I  can  find  no  better  name),  enters  upon  its  intellectual 
pursuits  with  new  vigor  and  life  (see  §  23). 

If  we  compare  the  just  enumerated  subjects  of  the 
educational  life  of  home  and  school,  they  appear  grouped 
in  accordance  with  the  inner  needs  of  boyhood  into  sub- 
jects (a)  of  the  more  quiet,  calm,  inner  life  ;  (b)  of  the 
more  receptive,  intro- active  life ;  (c)  of  the  more  express- 
ive outwardly  formative  life.  They  completely  meet 
the  needs,  therefore,  of  man  in  general. 

Furthermore,  it  will  be  noticed  that  they  develop, 
exercise,  and  cultivate  all  the  senses,  all  the  inner  and 
outer  powers  of  man,  and  thus  meet  the  requirements 
of  human  life  in  general. 

Lastly,  it  will  be  seen  that  a  simple,  orderly  home 
and  school  life  can  easily  meet  the  requirements  of  all 
these  subjects,  and,  consequently,  the  requirements  of 
human  development  at  this  stage. 

Let  us  now  examine  these  subjects  in  their  par- 
ticulars. 

B.  Particular  Consideration  of  the  Different  Subjects 
of  Instruction. 

A.   AROUSING   AND   CULTIVATION  OF   THE   RELIGIOUS   SENSE. 

§  88.  If  the  child  has  grown  up  in  unity  of  life  and 
soul  with  his  parents,  this  unity  will  not  only  be  main- 
tained but  strengthened  and  intensified  during  the 
period  of  boyhood,  provided  no  disturbing  and  obstruct- 
ing causes  intervene. 

The  question  here  is  not  of  that  vague  and  indefinite 
unity  of  feeling  which  makes  one  body  of  two  bodies, 
not  uncommon  between  parents  and  child,  but  of  that 


238  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

living  soul-unitj,  that  clear  oneness  of  mind,  which  sees 
life  as  an  unbroken  whole  in  all  its  operations  and  phe- 
nomena. 

This  living  unity  of  soul,  this  clear  oneness  of  mind 
— which  is  not  a  mere  external  community  of  life — is 
the  unshakable  foundation  of  genuine  religious  feeling. 
For  this  spiritual  unity  between  parent  and  child,  the 
inner  life,  the  pure  outward  representation  of  inner 
spiritual  life  of  man  is  a  common  concern.  What  the 
father  and  mother  because  of  the  hindrances  of  life 
could  not  attain,  they  seek  to  accomplish  in  and  through 
their  child  —  the  representation  of  pure  humanity  as 
such. 

Dearly,  and  often  painfully,  the  father  has  purchased 
clear  and  sure  results  from  his  experience  in  the  devel- 
opment and  cultivation  of  his  own  innermost  life.  His 
loss  of  strength  prevents  him  from  applying  these  re^ 
suits  in  his  own  life,  but  he  communicates  them  to  his 
son ;  and  the  son  profits  by  this  experience  and  applies 
it  in  his  own  life  with  the  unbroken  and  full  energy 
and  vigor  of  his  youth. 

Where  the  life  of  parent  and  child  has  not  been  an 
unbroken  whole  from  the  earliest  beginning,  these  com- 
munications have  no  effect ;  apparently  the  experiences 
of  two  different  worlds  are  opposed  to  each  other  with 
different  wants  and  different  forces,  and  the  connecting 
link  is  missing.  Only  he  who  has  tried  to  secure  them 
can  appreciate  the  results  of  that  spiritual  unity  between 
parent  and  child,  which  is  based  on  the  common  purpose 
of  cultivating  and  representing  highest  and  purest 
humanity. 

Such  a  spiritual  union  necessarily  implies  the  obser- 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  239 

vation  of  individual  and  common  life  in  their  inner 
cause  and  purpose,  in  their  inner  and  living  connection. 
From  this  the  soul  of  man,  even  in  boyhood,  obtains  the 
most  unequivocal  proofs  and  conviction  that,  to  speak 
humanly,  God  continues  uninterruptedly  to  guide  man- 
kind in  its  development  and  cultivation  with  fatherly 
protection  and  care,  and  follows  each  individual  as  an 
essential  member  of  the  whole  in  all  the  events  of  life 
with  fatherly  aid  and  solicitude. 

How  could  man  better  express  the  fact  that  the 
events  of  life,  truly  seen  and  understood  in  their  causes, 
their  nature  and  significance,  are  always  for  the  best  of 
the  individual  and  of  the  whole  ?  Thus,  we  ever  speak 
of  the  divine  most  clearly  and  comprehensibly  for  our- 
selves in  human  tenns. 

The  boy's  mind  thus  steadily  grows  in  clearness  and 
purity,  his  powers  are  ever  enhanced  and  increased,  his 
courage  and  perseverance  strengthened  by  thus  finding 
the  confirmations  of  these  truths  in  his  own  life  and  in 
that  of  others,  in  individual  and  common  life,  in  ex- 
perience and  revelation ;  by  thus  finding  the  harmony 
and  unity  of  revelation  in  scripture,  nature,  and  life ; 
by  thus  seeing  himself  the  member  of  a  whole  unfold- 
ing from  the  small  domestic  circle  into  ever  wider  and 
higher  realms,  of  a  whole  whose  common  purpose  he 
recognizes,  amid  the  most  positive  evidences  of  divine 
guidance  and  care,  in  the  representation  of  the  spiritual 
in  and  by  the  corporeal,  of  the  divine  in  and  by  the 
human. 

The  life  of  such  a  family,  of  such  a  boy,  will  neces- 
sarily be  a  prayer  of  Jesus  expressed  in  conduct  and  in 
deeds,  a  living  prayer  of  Jesus ;    a  rich  and  efiicient 


240  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

Christian  life,  trusting  in  God,  loving  God  and  man, 
spontaneously  active  in  childlike  obedience  to  God. 
Thus,  the  teachings  of  Jesus  will  be  interpreted  in  their 
own  life,  and  the  application  of  these  teachings  in  life 
will  become  possible. 

Religious  instruction,  resting  on  such  spiritual  union 
between  parent  and  child,  stands  on  firm  ground  and  is 
rich  in  blessings.  It  is  fruitful  and  rich  in  blessings 
only  in  the  measure  in  which  fortunate  circumstances 
of  life  have  aroused  in  the  boy  at  an  early  period  a  liv- 
ing sense,  a  quick  and  clear  eye  for  inner  spiritual  life 
(see  §  21). 

There  is  no  danger  that  any  subject  of  inner  spiritual 
life  will  prove  in  its  nature  too  high  and  unintelligible 
for  the  boy's  inner  spiritual  sense ;  let  him  simply  re- 
ceive the  facts,  his  inner  power  will  soon  find  the  inner 
meaning  in  forms  accessible  and  intelligible  to  him. 

We  do  not  give  early  boyhood  enough  credit  for  re- 
ligious power  as  well  as  for  mental  power  generally. 
For  this  reason,  in  later  boyhood,  life  and  the  soul  are  so 
empty,  so  wholly  without  experience,  and,  therefore,  so 
callous  and  dull  with  reference  to  spiritual,  ethical,  and 
religious  notions.  Only  a  few  threads,  and  these  weak, 
are  found  there  to  which  to  fasten,  instruction  concern- 
ing a  truly  religious  life ;  nevertheless,  so  much  is  asked 
in  this  respect  of  the  boy  in  the  succeeding  period  of 
youth. 

Children  and  boys  have  their  attention  called  at  an 
early  period  to  a  great  number  of  external  matters,  and 
receive  instruction  concerning  these  things  which  they 
can  not  understand,  simply  because  they  are  extraneous. 
At  the  same  time,  they  are  left  uninstructed  concerning 


THE   SCHOOL   AND   THE   FAMILY.  241 

SO  many  inner  matters  which  they  might  understand,  be- 
cause these  matters  are  within  them.  Thus,  they  are 
early  introduced  to  outer  life,  and  estranged  from  inner 
life ;  for  this  reason,  the  latter  is  so  hollow  and  dull. 

If  the  human  being  is  to  understand  many,  par- 
ticularly religious,  truths,  we  must  see  to  it  that  he  have 
many  experiences  in  this  direction,  that  even  in  the 
more  trivial  events  of  his  emotional  and  religious  life 
he  become  conscious  of  the  course  and  conditions  of  his 
spiritual  development.  Unless  man  ascends  from  the 
knowledge  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  in  his  own  life  to 
a  knowledge  of  His  Fatherhood  in  the  life  of  mankind, 
future  religious  instruction  will  be  empty  and  barren  in 
the  same  inverse  ratio. 

Very  many  religious  errors  and  misinterpretations, 
many  falsities  and  half-truths  would  be  avoided  through 
early  attention  to  these  matters,  or  through  at  least  un- 
hindered and  undisturbed  development  of  inner  spiritual 
life  in  harmony  with  external  life  and  with  reference  to 
it.  Similarly,  we  could  avoid  the  misunderstanding  of 
certain  prominent  sayings  of  dogmatic  religious  instruc- 
tion, which  in  this  one-sided  presentation  effect  in  the 
life  of  man  the  exact  opposite  of  what  they  are  in- 
tended to  effect.  This  is  true,  for  instance,  of  the  say- 
ing, "  The  good  will  be  happy,"  so  prominently  em- 
phasized in  religious  instruction,  generally  to  the  great- 
est detriment  for  the  life,  the  happiness,  the  contentment, 
and  the  ever-progressive  tendency  of  man. 

The  simple  boy,  still  poor  in  outer  experiences,  feels 
and  sees  his  life  as  an  undivided  whole  ;  to  him  inner 
and  outer  good,  inner  and  outer  happiness,  inner  and 
outer   life  are  still  undivided,  without  any  differentia- 


242  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

tions  or  oppositions.  Therefore,  without  any  idea  that 
it  might  be  different,  the  inner  pure  soul-life  is  neces- 
sarily considered  also  as  external ;  hence,  the  inner  fruits 
of  goodness  are  looked  upon  as  identical  with  the  ex- 
ternal fruits. 

The  inner  and  the  outer,  the  infinite  and  the  finite, 
however,  are  two  worlds,  whose  phenomena  are  neces- 
sarily and  for  ever  different  in  form.  Therefore,  that 
general  saying,  if  it  does  not  at  an  early  period  disturb 
and  weaken  the  inner  peace  and  power  of  the  boy,  will 
at  least  fill  his  mind  with  false  expectations  and  lead 
him  to  wholly  false  judgments,  interpretations,  and  uses 
of  his  experiences— to  serious  errors  in  his  life. 

Dogmatic  religious  instruction  should  rather  at  an 
early  period  establish  the  truth,  showing  its  application 
in  individual  and  collective  life,  and  tracing  it  in  all 
development  in  nature  and  mankind,  that  whoever  truly 
and  earnestly,  in  singleness  of  purpose  and  self-sacrifice, 
seeks  the  good,  the  pure  representation  of  humanity, 
must  needs  expose  himself  to  a  life  of  external  oppres- 
sion, pain  and  want,  anxiety  and  care.  For  this  very 
tendency  implies  that  the  inner,  spiritual,  true  life  be 
revealed  and  become  manifest ;  and,  if  this  is  to  be  ac- 
complished, the  consequences  indicated  above  are  un- 
avoidable. 

In  order  to  enable  the  boy  to  see  this  vividly,  let 
him  compare  the  requirements,  conditions,  and  phe- 
nomena of  the  development  of  a  tree  with  the  require- 
ments, conditions,  and  phenomena  of  the  spiritual  de- 
velopment of  a  human  being.     He  will  find  that — 

Every  phase  of  development,  however  beautiful  and 
proper  in  its  place,  must  vanish  and  perish,  whenever  a 


THE   SCHOOL   AND   THE  FAMILY.  243 

higher  phase  is  to  appear.  The  sheltering  bud-scales 
must  fall  when  the  young  branch  or  the  fragrant  blos- 
som is  to  unfold,  however  much  these  tender  forms  may 
thereby  be  exposed  to  the  rough  weather  of  spring. 
The  fragrant  blossom  must  make  room  for  a  fruit,  at 
first  sour,  hard,  and  homely.  The  luscious,  red-cheeked 
fruit  must  decay,  that  vigorous  young  plants  and  trees 
may  sprout  forth. 

Thus,  the  psalms  of  David,  and  the  hymns  of  many 
others  who  did  battle  for  the  lifting  up  of  mankind, 
for  the  representation  of  pure  humanity,  resemble  the 
fruits  of  their  tree  of  life  which  could  not  appear  with- 
out the  sacrifice  of  many  earlier  phases  of  life  develop- 
ment dear  to  them. 

And  do  not  the  verses  of  those  psalms  and  hymns 
resemble  kernels  which,  sown  in  the  fertile  soil  of 
human  souls,  bring  forth  shady  trees  filled  with  fragrant 
blossoms  and  strength-giving,  eternal,  immortal  fruits? 

Renunciation^  the  abandonment  of  the  external  for 
the  sake  of  securing  the  internal^  is  the  condition  for 
attaining  highest  develoj>ment. 

This  agrees  with  the  saying,  coming  from  another 
phase  of  contemplation :  "  The  dearer  the  child,  the  more 
frequent  the  rod  " ;  or,  "  Whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chas- 
teneth."  Every  boy  whose  soul  is  not  wholly  estranged 
from  himself  will  understand  this  truth.  The  human 
being  who  understands  this  truth  and  who  is  conscious 
of  an  honest  purpose  will  not  murmur  and  complain, 
like  a  stubborn  child,  about  adverse  occurrences  in  his 
life,  saying :  "  Why  is  my  lot  so  sad,  so  unhappy  ?  I 
have  done  no  harm,  at  least  I  am  not  conscious  of  any 
evil  doing.     Others  are  doing  so  well,  although  it  is 


2M  THE   EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

known  how  wicked  thej  are,  or,  at  least,  that  they  act 
only  from  external  points  of  view,  and  from  transient 
and  weak  motives." 

He  will  rather  say  to  himself :  "  Just  because  you 
seek  earnestly  and  steadily  only  the  highest  and  best, 
only  the  absolute  and  permanent  good,  all  merely  relative 
and  transient  good  must  vanish,  to  make  room  for  ever 
higher  and  more  perfect  developments  and,  at  last,  for 
abiding  fruit." 

No  less  detrimental  to  the  attainment  of  human  life 
is  the  predominance  frequently  given  in  religious  in- 
struction to  the  promise  of  a  reward  for  good  deeds  in 
a  future  life,  if  they  seem  to  go  unrewarded  in  this  life. 
Brutal  minds  who  hold  sensual  pleasure  highest  are  not 
affected  by  this  ;  boys  and  human  beings,  generally  with 
a  normally  good  disposition,  do  not  need  it.  For,  if  our 
life  is  pure,  if  our  actions  are  right  and  good,  no  reward 
in  a  future  world  is  needed,  even  though  in  this  world 
all  may  be  lacking  that  seems  valuable  to  the  sensual 
man. 

It  argues  a  low  degree  of  insight  into  the  nature  and 
dignity  of  man,  if  the  incentive  of  reward  in  a  future 
world  is  needed,  in  order  to  insure  a  conduct  worthy  of 
his  nature  and  destiny.  If  the  human  being  is  enabled 
at  an  early  period  to  live  in  accordance  with  genuine 
humanity,  he  can  and  should  at  all  times  appreciate  the 
dignity  of  his  being ;  and  at  all  times  the  consciousness 
of  having  lived  worthily  and  in  accordance  with  the  re- 
quirements of  his  being  should  be  his  highest  reward, 
needing  no  addition  of  external  recompense. 

Does  the  good  child  or  boy,  conscious  of  having 
acted  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  father,  in  his  spirit  and 


THE  SCHOOL   AND   THE  FAMILY.  245 

in  obedience  to  his  will,  need  more  than  the  joy  of  this 
consciousness?  Does  the  simple,  normal  child,  con- 
scious of  having  done  right,  think  of  any  additional  re- 
ward, were  it  only  praise  ?  Should  not  man  be  as  pure 
and  perfect  in  his  actions  toward  God  as  the  son  is 
toward  his  earthly  father  ?  Jesus  says :  "  My  meat  is  to 
do  the  will  of  Him  who  sent  me  " — i.  e.,  the  conscious- 
ness of  having  done  the  Father's  will  gives  sustenance, 
meaning,  aad  joy  to  my  life.  He  deems  the  poor  al- 
ready blessed — as  they  truly  are — because  their  poverty 
enhances  the  efficiency  of  the  soul  and  lifts  conduct  ac- 
cordingly. 

We  ought  to  lift  and  strengthen  human  nature,  but 
we  degrade  and  weaken  it  when  we  seek  to  lead  it  to 
good  conduct  by  means  of  a  bait,  even  if  this  bait 
beckons  to  a  future  world,  when  we  use  even  the  most 
spiritual  external  incentive  for  a  better  life  and  leave 
undeveloped  the  inner  self-active  forces  which  in  every 
human  being  prompt  the  representation  of  a  pure 
humanity. 

How  very  different  are  all  these  things  if  the  boy's 
attention  has  been  directed  at  an  early  period  to  the  re- 
actions of  his  conduct,  not  to  the  external  pleasantness 
of  his  situation  but  to  his  inner  condition,  to  his  inner 
freedom,  serenity,  and  contentment !  Experience  rest- 
ing on  this  will  necessarily  arouse  more  and  more  man's 
inner  sense,  leading  to  genuine  thoughtfulness,  the  most 
precious  treasure  of  boyhood  and  youth. 

Religious  instruction  should  throw  light  upon  such 

experiences,  should  bring  them  into  clear  consciousness, 

should  harmonize  and  unite  them,  should  deduce  from 

them  the  self-evident  and  axiomatic  truths,  show  their 
18 


246  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

application  in  all  conditions  of  life  in  which  force,  life, 
and  spirit  are  active,  should  exhibit  their  agreement 
with  the  truths  recognized  and  uttered  by  God-inspired 
men.  This  true  religiousness  will  become  the  eternal 
heritage  of  man,  and  gradually  of  mankind  as  a  whole, 
and  all  that  is  high  and  holy  and  has  found  utterance  in 
humanity  will  again  and  again  find  utterance  in  man. 
Thus,  the  religious  development  of  the  individual  will 
be  brought  more  and  more  into  harmony  with  the  re- 
ligious development  of  mankind,  blessing  all,  dissipat- 
ing superstition,  doubt,  and  despotism,  and  fixing  the 
glorious  consciousness  that  in  God  we  live  and  have  our 
being. 

§  89.  Memorizing  of  Beligioics  Sayings, — It  is  nat- 
ural that  religious  feelings,  sentiments,  and  thoughts 
should  spring  up  in  the  mind  of  man  as  such,  as  well  as 
in  the  mind  of  the  boy  not  estranged  from  himself  and 
grown  up  in  spiritual  unity  with  his  parents. 

In  the  beginning  these  sentiments  and  feelings  will 
manifest  themselves  in  the  mind  of  man  or  of  the  boy 
only  as  an  effect,  as  an  intuition,  a  fullness,  without 
word  or  form,  without  any  adequate  expression  of  what 
they  are,  merely  as  something  that  uplifts  our  being  and 
fills  the  soul.  At  this  juncture  it  is  most  beneficial, 
strengthening,  and  uplifting  for  the  young  human  being 
to  receive  words — a  language  for  these  sentiments  and 
feelings — so  that  they  may  not  be  stifled  in  themselves, 
vanish  in  themselves  for  lack  of  expression. 

There  need  be  no  fear  that  the  words  of  others  will 
force  upon  the  child  or  boy  an  extraneous  feeling.  The 
religious  element  has  the  quality  of  pure  air,  of  bright 
sunlight,  and  clear  water ;  every  earthly  creature  inhales 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.        247 

them,  and  in  each  it  assumes  a  different  form  and  color, 
in  the  life  of  each  it  finds  a  different  expression. 

Take  any  simple  religious  maxim  intelligible  to 
every  boy  or  child  through  and  in  his  own  life,  let  a 
number  of  boys  memorize  it,  and  it  will  produce  in  the 
life  of  each  an  effect  peculiar  to  his  individuality. 

Of  course,  these  words  must  find  a  response  in  the 
boy's  life.  The  child  must  not  be  expected  to  give  life 
and  meaning  to  the  words,  but  the  words  must  give  ex- 
pression to  what  is  already  in  the  boy's  soul  and  find 
their  meaning  in  this. 

Thus,  a  boy,  scarcely  six  years  old,  asks  every  even- 
ing one  of  his  parents  taking  him  to  bed:  "Please, 
teach  me  a  prayer."  Then,  after  repeating  it,  he  quietly 
goes  to  sleep.  One  day,  he  had  done  something  that 
seemed  to  indicate  that  all  was  not  right  in  his  soul. 
The  evening  prayer  opened  with  general  terms ;  in  a 
loud  and  strong  voice  he  repeated  the  words  as  usual. 
Then  a  slight  turn  in  the  words  pointed  to  the  occur- 
rence of  the  day,  and  suddenly  his  voice  became  scarcely 
audible,  though,  probably,  his  conscience  spoke  only  the 
louder. 

Yesterday,  he  said  to  me  for  the  first  time :  "  Please, 
repeat  the  prayer  with  me."  I  inferred  that  there  was 
something  that  concerned  him  very  much.  I  selected 
the  prayer  which  seemed  to  me  the  right  one,  and  he 
calmly  went  to  sleep. 

Not  long  ago,  the  same  boy  came  to  me  and  brought 
me  a  picture  he  had  just  found ;  he  was  pleased  with  it, 
for  it  was  brilliantly  painted.  At  the  same  moment  a 
boy,  about  a  year  and  a  half  older,  very  lively,  and 
apparently  little  heeding  inner  life,  came  up.     "  How 


248  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

cruel !  "  he  exclaimed,  looking  at  the  picture,  which  rep- 
resented an  attack  of  Turks  upon  Greeks,  particularly 
upon  Greek  mothers  and  children. 

I  said  to  the  boys  that  all  ought  to  give  thanks  to 
God  for  a  life  free  from  harm  and  sorrow.  "  Yes,  in- 
deed," exclaimed  the  older  boy,  "  as  we  do  in  the  morn- 
ing and  evening."  Yet  at  no  time  had  an  explanatory 
word  been  spoken  to  him. 

Certainly  it  is  neither  necessary  nor  desirable  that 
with  younger  boys  there  should  be  frequent  changes  in 
the  sayings  or  utterances  memorized  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  expression  to  their  inner  life. 

B.   RESPECT   FOR  THE   BODY,   KNOWLEDGE,   AND   CULTIVATION   OF   IT. 

§  90.  Man  respects  what  he  not  only  knows  in  its 
value,  its  meaning,  and  uses,  but  what  he  can  apply  and 
use,  the  things  on  whose  good  qualities  he  knows  the 
attainment  of  his  work  and  purpose  to  depend. 

It  does  not  follow  that  man,  especially  in  boyhood, 
knows  his  body,  because  it  is  so  near  to  him,  nor  that  he 
eati  use  his  limbs  because  they  are  one  with  him.  We 
often  hear  boys  admonished  not  to  be  so  awkward,  and 
this  particularly  in  walks  of  life  that  do  not  pay  regular 
attention  to  all-sided  bodily  activity  in  childhood  and 
early  boyhood. 

We  see  that  men  in  whom  the  culture  of  mind  and 
body  have  not  kept  pace  with  each  other,  at  certain 
times  and  under  certain  circumstances,  do  not  know 
what  to  do  with  their  body.  Nay,  many  a  one  seems 
to  feel  his  body  and  his  limbs  to  be  a  burden  to  himself. 

The  occasional  cultivation  of  the  body  in  domestic 


THE  SCHOOL   AND   THE  FAMILY.  249 

occupations  may  do  much  to  remedy  this.  But,  in 
almost  all  cases,  this  is  very  subordinate,  and  generally 
exercises  the  body  only  one-sidedly.  Besides,  man  is  to 
know  not  only  his  power  but  also  the  means  for  apply- 
ing it ;  and  this  can  be  attained  only  by  means  of  an  all- 
sided,  equal  cultivation  of  the  body  and  its  parts  as  the 
medium  and  expression  of  mental  culture. 

This  appears  already  in  the  simplest  cases  of  instruc- 
tion, where  the  use  and  position  of  the  body  and  its 
members  are  essential,  e.  g.,  in  writing,  drawing,  the  play- 
ing of  musical  instruments,  etc.  If  the  pupil  has  not 
previously  had  the  benefit  of  true  all-sided  cultivation 
and  use  of  his  body  and  its  members,  and  has  made  this 
bis  permanent  possession,  only  a  mechanical  training, 
equally  blunting  to  teacher  and  pupil,  can  secure  scanty 
success ;  the  continual  repetition  of  admonitions  to  sit 
straight,  to  hold  the  arm  right,  etc.,  drives  all  life  and 
prosperity  from  instruction. 

An  active,  vigorous  body,  in  all  conditions  and  pur- 
suits of  life,  a  dignified  bearing  and  attitude  of  the  body, 
can  only  result  from  all-sided  cultivation  of  the  body,  as 
bearer  of  the  mind.  Surely,  a  great  deal  of  rudeness, 
ill-mannerliness,  and  impropriety  would  disappear  from 
boyhood,  and  corresponding  admonitions  would  become 
less  frequent,  if  we  gave  our  boys  regular,  all-sided 
bodily  training,  proceeding  from  the  simple  to  the  com- 
plex, based  on  their  mental  culture,  and  keeping  pace 
with  it. 

The  will,  as  such,  does  not  yet  control  the  body  at 
all  times ;  therefore,  the  body  should  be  enabled  to  obey 
the  mind  implicitly  at  all  times,  as  in  the  case  of  a  mu- 
sical performer.     Without  such  cultivation  of  the  body, 


250  THE   EDUCATION  OF   MAN. 

education  can  never  attain  its  object,  which  is  perfect 
human  culture.  Therefore,  the  body,  like  the  mind, 
should  in  this  respect  pass  through  a  true  school,  though 
not  in  a  one-sided  manner ;  and  regular  physical  exer- 
cises, proceeding  from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  based 
on  the  mental  development,  are  a  proper  subject  of  in- 
struction in  every  school. 

Thus  alone  is  true  discipline  made  possible.  True 
discipline  firmly  places  the  boy,  in  all  his  actions,  on 
the  recognition  and  feeling  of  human  worth,  and  on 
consequent  respect  for  his  own  nature.  This  is  the 
positive  element  of  education  at  this  period  ;  and  the 
more  vividly  and  distinctly  the  pupil  apprehends  the 
nature  and  dignity  of  man,  and  the  more  clearly  and 
perfectly  he  sees  and  understands  the  necessary  require- 
ments of  true  humanity,  the  more  positively  and  strictly 
the  educator  should  insist  upon  the  fulfillment  of  these 
requirements.  Nay,  if  need  be,  he  should  not  shun  to 
descend  from  admonition  to  punishment  and  severity 
for  the  benefit  of  the  pupil ;  boyhood  is  the  age  of  dis- 
cipline. Only  harmony  of  mental  and  bodily  culture 
renders  true  discipline  possible. 

Furthermore,  after  severe  mental  activity,  the  body 
as  well  as  the  mind  calls  for  strictly  regulated,  vigorous 
bodily  activity,  and  this  again  reacts  on  the  mind  and 
strengthens  it.  Only  where  mental  and  bodily  activity 
are  thus  in  regular,  living,  mutual  action  and  reaction, 
true  life  is  possible. 

But  bodily  exercises  have  yet  another  important 
side :  they  lead  the  human  being  (here  the  boy)  subse- 
quently to  a  vivid  knowledge  of  the  inner  structure  of 
his  body ;  for  the  boy  feels  with  special  vividness  the 


THE  SCHOOL   AND   THE  FAMILY.  251 

inner  mutual  connection  in  the  activity  of  his  members. 
These  perceptions,  aided  by  only  tolerably  good  sketches 
of  the  inner  structure  of  man,  must  lead  to  the  vivid 
knowledge  of  this  structure,  and  induce,  at  least,  a  living 
interest  in  the  care  and  consideration  of  the  body. 

C.   OBSERVATION  OF   NATURE   AND   SURROUNDINGS. 

§  91.  The  things  considered  under  this  head  for- 
merly— in  the  period  of  childhood — seemed  isolated  and 
without  inner  connection ;  now  they  appear  in  an  or- 
derly arrangement  and  in  their  necessary  inner  connec- 
tion, adapted  to  the  development  of  man  at  this  stage, 
and  in  the  classifications  and  subdivisions  indicated  by 
the  gradual  differentiation  of  particulars  from  generals. 

The  knowledge  of  every  thing,  of  its  purpose  and 
properties,  is  found  most  clearly  and  distinctly  in  its 
local  conditions  and  in  its  relations  to  surrounding  ob- 
jects. Therefore,  the  pupil  will  get  the  clearest  insight 
into  the  character  of  things,  of  nature  and  surround- 
ings, if  he  sees  and  studies  them  in  their  natural  con- 
nection. 

Again,  the  boy  will,  of  course,  see  most  clearly  and 
appreciate  most  fully  the  conditions  and  relations  of 
objects  that  are  in  closest  and  most  constant  connection 
with  him.,  that  owe  their  being  to  him,  or  at  least  have 
in  their  being  some  reference  to  him.  These  are  the 
things  of  his  nearest  surroundings — the  things  of  the 
sitting-room,  the  house,  the  garden,  the  farm,  the  vil- 
lage (or  city),  the  meadow,  the  field,  the  forest,  the 
plain.  The  sitting-room,  then,  furnishes  the  starting- 
point  for  this  orderly  study  of  nature  and  surroundings, 


252  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

which  thus  proceeds  from  the  near  and  known  to  the 
less  near  and  less  known,  and  becomes  for  the  purpose 
of  orderly  classification  and  subdivision  a  real  subject  of 
school  instruction. 

The  course  is  as  follows.  Instruction  begins  again 
with  the  necessary  indication  of  the  object.  Thus,  point- 
ing to  the  table,  '^  What  is  this  ?  "  Tlien,  pointing  to 
the  chair,  "  What  is  this  ? "  etc.  Then  the  question 
comprehending  all,  "  What  do  you  see  in  the  school- 
room ?  "  "  The  table,  the  chair,  the  bench,  the  window," 
etc.  The  teacher  writes  on  a  slate  the  names  of  the 
objects  which  one  or  several  have  named,  and  requests 
the  pupils  to  repeat  the  names  in  chorus.  Again  the 
teacher  asks :  "  Are  the  table  and  the  chair  in  the  same 
relation  to  the  school-room  as  the  door  and  the  win- 
dow ?  "  "Yes— no."  "  Why  yes  —  why  no  ?  What 
are  the  door  and  the  window  with  regard  to  the  room  ? " 
"  They  are  parts  of  the  room."  "  Name  all  the  things 
which  you  think  are  parts  of  the  room."  "  Walls,  ceil- 
ing, floor,  etc. — all  these  are  parts  of  the  room." 

"As  the  door,  the  window,  etc.,  are  parts  of  the 
room,  so  the  room  is  a  part  of  some  greater  whole." 
"  Yes,  of  the  house."  "  What  other  parts  has  the 
house  ?  "  "  The  hall-way,  the  sitting-room,  the  bed- 
room, kitchen,  etc.,  are  parts  of  the  house."  It  is  quite 
desirable,  for  the  training  of  perception  and  language, 
that  the  pupils  should  together  repeat  the  answers  in 
proper  form. 

"Again,  have  all  houses  the  same  parts  as  this 
house  ? "  "  No."  "  What  parts  which  other  houses  have 
not  do  you  find  in  this  house  ?  What  parts  do  you  find 
in  other  houses,  but  not  in  this  house  ?     What  deter- 


THE   SCHOOL    AND   THE   FAMILY.  253 

mines  the  importance  of  tlie  parts  and  rooms  of  a 
house  ? "  "  The  use  and  purpose  of  the  house."  "  What 
are  the  most  important  parts  of  a  complete  dwelling- 
house  ? " 

"  Besides  the  objects  that  are  parts  of  this  room,  you 
named  some  that  are  not  parts,  but  which  jou  see  in 
the  room  ;  name  some  of  them  again."  "  Chairs,  tables, 
flower-pots,  books,  etc."  *'  Do  chairs,  tables,  etc.,  stand 
in  the  same  relation  to  the  room  as  flower-pots,  books, 
etc.?"  "No."  "Why  not?"  "Chairs,  tables,  etc., 
are  necessary  to  the  room.  Objects  that  are  necessary 
to  a  room  make  up  the  furniture  of  the  room."  "  Name 
all  things  which  you  know  to  belong  to  the  furniture 
of  a  room.  Has  each  of  the  other  rooms  of  the  house 
its  particular  kinds  of  furniture  ? "  "  Yes,  the  kitchen, 
the  bed-room,  etc."  "  What  things  belong  to  the  kitch- 
en, the  bed-room,  etc.  ? "  "  These  things  are  called 
kitchen-utensils,  etc." 

"  Are  there  in  the  house  things  that  do  not  belong 
to  a  particular  room?"  "Yes"  (naming  some).  "All 
things  that  belong  to  the  house  are  the  house-furniture. 
Name  all  things  you  know  as  house-furniture." 

"  The  house  has  its  deflnite  parts,  or  rooms.  Now, 
is  the  house  again  a  part  of  a  greater  whole  ? "  "  Yes ; 
the  homestead  (the  premises)."  "What  things  are  parts 
of  the  homestead  ? "  "  The  court-yard,  the  garden,  the 
dwelling-house,  the  barn,  the  stable,  etc."  "  The  movable 
objects  which  belong  in  the  court-yard  are  the  furniture 
(implements)  of  the  yard.  All  movable  objects  that 
belong  in  the  garden  are  garden-implements,"  etc. 

"  As  the  house  is  a  part  of  the  homestead,  so  is  the 
homestead  a  part  of  a  greater  whole  ? "     "  Yes ;  of  the 


254  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

village."  "What  things  make  up  the  village?"  "Houses, 
barns,  gardens,  homesteads,  churches,  schools,  etc." 
"What  kinds  of  houses  do  you  iind  ? "  "  Farm  houses, 
shops,  stores,  etc."  "  What  belongs  in  a  shop  ?  What 
belongs  in  the  church  ?  What  is  around  the  village  ? " 
"The  township."  "What  have  you  seen  in  the  town- 
ship ?  "     "  Mountains,  valleys,  roads,  etc." 

From  this  point  the  study  of  the  earth's  surface 
(geography)  becomes  an  independent  subject  of  in- 
struction. 

The  study  of  surroundings  has  this  peculiarity  that 
all  the  studies  of  particular  things  or  classes  of  things 
branch  out  from  it  at  certain  necessary  places,  like  the 
buds  on  the  boughs  of  a  tree.  This  will  be  seen  again 
and  again  in  a  natural  and  rational  course  of  instruc- 
tion. In  general,  the  proper  place  for  beginning  with 
a  new,  distinct  subject  of  instruction,  is  necessarily 
and  regularly  determined  like  the  ramification  of  sym- 
metrically organized  plants. 

It  is  tnie  that  the  indications  for  this,  like  the  be- 
ginnings of  a  new  bud,  are  often  very  indistinct.  Fre- 
quently they  manifest  themselves  only  in  the  mind  and 
soul  of  the  teacher  who  gives  himself  up  thoughtfully 
to  the  requirements  and  relationships  of  the  subject; 
or  who  is  so  full  of  the  subject  that  he  sees  its  require- 
ments intuitively,  as  it  were.  If  the  moment  of  the 
natural  budding  of  the  new  subject  of  instruction  has 
been  missed,  every  later  eilort  arbitrarily  to  introduce 
the  subject  lacks  life ;  and,  although  the  subject  may 
be  necessary,  it  will  always  seem  extraneous,  dead,  and 
will  continue  to  behave  as  such. 


THE   SCHOOL   AND   THE  FAMILY.  255 

Every  teacher  who  in  true  love  and  fidelity  seeks  a 
truly  natural  and  rational  instruction  must  have  felt 
this  often  and  painfully  when,  in  foolish  subjection  to 
rule  and  custom,  or  in  ignorance  or  dullness,  he  has 
missed  this  moment  of  new  budding.  He  will  labor 
without  success;  the  connections  of  his  course  of  in- 
struction will  be  like  those  of  a  limber-jack;  his  in- 
struction will  be  empty  and  dull,  like  the  noise  of  a 
toy  mill. 

Therefore,  for  the  purposes  of  a  living,  life-giving, 
and  life-stirring  instruction,  it  is  most  important  to  note 
the  moment,  the  proper  place,  for  the  introduction  of 
a  new  branch  of  instruction.  The  distinctive  character 
of  a  natural  and  rational  life-stirring  and  developing 
system  of  instruction  lies  in  the  finding  and  fixing  of 
this  point.  For,  when  it  is  truly  found,  the  subject  of 
instruction  grows  independently  in  accordance  with  its 
own  living  law,  and  truly  teaches  the  teacher  himself. 
Therefore,  the  w^hole  attention  of  the  teacher  must  be 
directed  to  these  budding-points  of  new  branches  of 
instruction.  To  neglect  this  will,  in  its  consequences, 
lead  to  an  unnatural  and  incoherent  course  of  instruc- 
tion (see  §§  81,  82). 

After  this  digression  we  return  to  the  course  to  be 
pursued  in  the  observation  of  the  external  world. 

"  In  the  surrounding  country  you  see  trees,  steeples, 
rocks,  springs,  walls,  forests,  villages,  etc.  Consider 
again  these  and  all  other  things  you  can  see,  and  tell  me 
if  each  one  is  the  only  thing  of  its  kind,  or  if  several 
may  be  classified  together  as  being  similar.''  "  Several 
things  may  be   classified   together  as  being  similar." 


256  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

"  Name  several  objects  which  you  can  thus  classify  to- 
gether." 

"If  you  go  on  comparing  these  things  with  each 
other,  do  you  find  an  important  difference  between 
them?"  "Yes;  some  things  grow  in  nature  (natu- 
rally) ;  others  are  made  by  men.  The  former  are  nat- 
ural  objects,  the  work  of  nature ;  the  latter,  artificial 
objects,  the  works  of  man."  "Name  several  natural 
objects  that  you  know."  "  Trees,  fields,  grass,  etc." 
"  Name  also  several  artificial  objects  that  you  know." 
"  Walls,  hedges,  roads,  etc."  "  Are  fields  and  meadows 
purely  artificial  ? "  "  Yes — no."  "  Why  ?  Are  hedges, 
vineyards,  etc.,  purely  artificial  1 "  "  No."  "  Why  not  ? " 
"  Such  things  we  may  call  natural  and  artificial  objects 
(works  of  nature  and  of  man)."  "  Name  several  such 
objects  in  your  surroundings."  (To  be  followed  by 
repetition  in  concert,  as  usual.) 

"Name  several  natural  objects  in  your  surround- 
ings, examine  them  more  closely,  compare  them  with 
one  another,  and  see  if  you  can  find  other  great  differ- 
ences by  which  you  can  classify  them — e.  g.,  tree,  rock, 
stone,  river,  bird,  oak,  stag,  pine-tree,  thunder,  light- 
ning, air,  etc."  "  There  are  differences  among  them  by 
which  they  can  be  classified."  "What  are  they?" 
"The  bird,  the  stag,  etc.,  are  animals;  the  oak,  the 
pine,  etc.,  are  plants ;  the  stone,  air,  etc.,  are  minerals ; 
thunder,  lightning,  etc.,  are  natural  phenomena."  "  Name 
all  the  animals  you  know ;  all  the  plants,  etc." 

Then  follow  observations  of  animals  with  reference 
to  the  locality  they  inhabit ;  yielding  classes  of  domes- 
tic animals,  animals  of  the  field,  of  the  woods ;  terres- 
trial, aquatic,  amphibious,  aerial  animals. 


THE   SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  257 

Similarly,  plants  are  considered  and  classified  as 
house  -  plants,  hot -house  plants,  garden  -  plants,  marsh- 
plants,  parasites,  etc. ;  then  follow  minerals,  though  these 
yield  few  points  for  comparison ;  and,  lastly,  the  various 
natural  phenomena  are  arranged  as  terrestrial,  aerial, 
aquatic,  and  igneous  phenomena. 

Subsequently  it  is  found  that,  because  of  the  locality 
they  inhabit,  natural  objects  are  near  or  more  or  less 
remote  with  respect  to  man ;  and  the  question  is  raised 
concerning  the  influence  of  this  nearness  or  remoteness 
on  their  mode  of  life,  their  behavior,  or  their  qualities. 
It  is  found  that  the  nearer  natural  objects,  exposed  to 
the  influence  of  man,  are  weaker,  more  sensitive,  need- 
ing care,  more  docile,  etc. ;  indeed,  more  tame^  and  that 
the  remoter  objects  are  more  crude,  more  wild. 

Tame  and  wild  animals  are  then  named.  The  tame 
animals  may  be  classified  with  reference  to  their  uses  as 
beasts  of  burden,  of  draught,  etc.  Wild  animals,  too, 
may  be  considered  as  useful  or  noxious.  Similarly, 
plants  are  studied;  and  even  with  minerals  this  may 
be  done. 

Again,  natural  objects  may  be  considered  with  refer- 
ence to  the  time  of  their  appearance  ;  yielding  ideas  of 
winter  and  summer  fruit ;  spring,  summer,  and  fall 
fiowers,  etc.  The  swallow  is  recognized  as  a  summer 
bird,  the  lark  as  a  spring  bird,  etc. 

With  reference  to  time  and  place  combined,  we  may 
consider  the  animals,  particularly  the  birds,  learning  to 
distinguish  these  as  migratory  and  resident  birds. 

Of  great  importance  in  the  consideration  of  animals 
is  their  mode  of  life,  yielding  ideas  of  carnivorous, 
herbivorous,  etc.,  animals. 


258  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

Here  follows  directly,  as  a  new,  distinct  branch  of 
instruction,  the  study  of  natural  history^  first  in  its 
more  descriptive,  then  in  its  anatomical  and  physiology 
ical  features.  Similarly,  at  an  earlier  period,  the  con- 
sideration of  natural  phenomena  depending  on  the 
operation  of  physical  forces  pointed  io  jpJiysics  as  a  new 
branch  of  instruction ;  this  is  indicated,  too,  in  the  study 
of  minerals. 

The  consideration  of  the  animals  affecting  man  most 
nearly  through  use  and  injury  furnishes  the  transition 
from  the  general  observation  of  nature  to  physics  and 
natural  history.  There  follows  now  the  distinction 
between  viviparous  and  oviparous  animals — between  the 
oviparous  that  hatch  their  eggs,  and  those  that  leave  the 
hatching  of  their  eggs  to  the  sun,  etc. 

Physics  and  natural  history,  subsequently,  are  con- 
cerned primarily  with  external  differences  and  resem- 
blances, their  conditions  and  causes,  their  effects  and 
consequences,  and,  particularly,  with  the  consequent 
logical  grouping  of  similar  natural  objects ;  with  the 
study  of  those  external  properties  in  which  the  inner 
nature  of  the  object  finds  its  most  unequivocal  and 
characteristic  external  expression. 

In  thus  ascending  from  the  particular  to  the  general, 
and  then  descending  again  from  the  general  to  the  par- 
ticular, in  this  fluctuation  of  the  instruction — more  par- 
ticularly in  the  observation  of  the  outer  world — the 
course  of  instruction  resembles  life  closely ;  and  it  be- 
comes possible  to  exhaust  the  limits  of  knowledge  with 
reference  to  each  subject  for  each  successive  stage  of 
mental  development  and  power. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   THE   FAMILY.  259 

Up  to  this  point  natural  objects  have  been  studied 
with  reference  to  all  obvious,  external  characteristics  of 
time,  place,  mode  of  life,  etc.  Now  the  works  of  man 
(artificial  objects)  are  to  be  subjected  to  a  similar  exter- 
nal scrutiny. 

[The  pupil  *  is  requested  to  enumerate  the  works  of 
man  in  the  surrounding  district  (the  house,  the  village, 
the  road,  the  bridge,  the  wall,  the  plow,  etc.) ;  he  finds 
their  differences  in  origin,  material,  use,  and  purpose ; 
he  finds  those  that  give  him  shelter,  those  that  serve  as 
implements,  those  that  facilitate  intercourse,  those  that 
give  pleasure,  and  those  that  are  simply  the  products  of 
human  skill  and  thought. 

He  finds  the  characteristics  of  villages  and  cities ;  of 
the  different  private,  industrial,  and  public  buildings  of 
a  city ;  of  workshops,  factories,  stores,  and  magazines ; 
of  the  different  kinds  of  workshops,  etc.  He  studies 
each  workshop  and  factory  with  reference  to  its  particu- 
lar tools  and  purposes. 

He  distinguishes  among  the  various  kinds  of  stores 
by  their  contents:  those  that  keep  food-products, 
sold  chiefly  by  weight ;  those  that  keep  artificial  pro- 
ducts (dry-goods),  sold  chiefly  by  measures  of  length, 
etc. 

The  public  buildings,  too,  are  distinguished  and 
grouped  by  their  purposes  and  uses,  as  educational,  de- 
votional, charitable,  etc. 


*  The  matter  included  in  brackets  [ — ]  is  a  full  synopsis  of  the  sub- 
jects presented  in  quasi-catechetical  style,  as  in  the  outset  of  this  section. 
—  Tr, 


260  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

Subsequently,  tlie  pupil  ascends  in  his  study  from 
the  work  to  the  workman,  from  the  product  to  the  pro- 
ducer, from  the  effect  to  the  cause,  therefore  from 
human  works  to  man  (as  from  the  study  of  nature  he 
ascended  to  her  creator,  to  God).  He  finds  the  names 
of  the  workmen  in  different  kinds  of  w^orkshops  (carpen- 
ters, etc.),  and  classifies  these  workmen  in  accordance 
with  the  character  of  the  place  in  which  they  work,  the 
material  on  which  they  work,  and  the  kind  of  work 
they  do. 

He  then  learns  to  classify  the  various  products  of 
human  activity  in  accordance  with  certain  internal 
characteristics,  such  as  the  material  of  which  they  are 
made  (stone,  earthenware,  wood,  etc.),  the  use  to  which 
they  are  put,  etc. 

Similarly  the  uses  of  public  buildings  are  considered 
(of  the  court-house,  the  school-house,  the  church,  etc.), 
as  well  as  the  official  names  of  the  persons  who  are  oc- 
cupied in  these  buildings.  Cities  are  then  classified. 
Other  occupations  of  men  (hunters,  fishermen,  etc.)  are 
cpnsidered. 

At  last,  questions  are  asked  concerning  the  common 
features  and  the  ultimate  aim  of  all  human  work  ;  and  it 
is  found  that  all  men  live  together,  grouped  in  a  com- 
mon relationship,  that  of  the  family.] 

''  Since  *  all  men  live  and  have  lived  in  families, 
and  since  the  highest  and  ultimate  aim  of  all  men  is 
the  clearest  consciousness  of  and  purest  representation 
of  their  God-given  nature,  where  can  all  men  be  most 


*  On  account  of  the  great  importance  of  the  family  in  Froebel's  view 
of  education,  I  here  give  his  complete  catechism  of  this  phase.— Jr. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  261 

surely  and  effectively  prepared  and  developed  for  the 
attainment  of  this  aim  ^ "  "  In  the  family."  "  What 
are  the  external  conditions  of  a  family,  and  who  are  its 
most  important  members  ? "  "  Father,  mother,  chil- 
dren and  servants."  "  What  now  must  be  the  condi- 
tion of  a  family,  if  it  is  to  prepare  and  develop  the 
human  being  for  the  attainment  of  the  highest  and 
ultimate  purpose  of  life  ? "  "  They  must  know  this  ul- 
timate purpose  and  the  means  for  its  attainment ;  they 
must  be  agreed  concerning  the  ways  and  means  to  be 
adopted ;  they  must  aid  and  support  each  other  in  all 
they  do,  having  only  this  purpose  in  view."  "  If  a 
single  family  should  fulfill  these  conditions,  would  it 
thereby  be  enabled  to  attain  the  purpose  of  man  in  and 
through  itself  ? "  "  No."  "  Why  not  ?  "  "  Because  a 
single  family  can  not  possess  all  the  means  for  this  pur- 
pose." "  How,  then,  can  the  ultimate  purpose  of  man 
be  attained  more  easily  and  surely  ? "  "  When  several 
families,  who  appreciate  the  highest  purpose  of  man  and 
who  agree  concerning  the  means  for  its  attainment, 
unite  for  the  sake  of  aiding  and  supporting  one  an- 
other in  this  work."  "  Only  humanity  as  a  whole, 
as  a  unit,  can  fully  attain  the  highest  and  ultimate  pur- 
pose of  human  striving,  the  representation  of  pure  hu- 
manity." 

Thus  the  pupil  in  a  great  meandering  circuit  has  re- 
turned to  the  home  from  which  he  started  ou  his  explor- 
ings  of  nature  and  the  outer  world,  has  returned  to  the 
center  of  all  earthly  human  endeavor ;  but  with  en- 
larged and  keener  powers  of  observation,  although  the 
objects  of  the  outer  world  have  been  brought  to  his 
notice  only  in  their  external  phases  of  being.  He  has 
19 


262  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

found  man  in  his  various  relations  to  the  things  of  the 
outer  world ;  he  has  found  himself. 

This  subject  of  instruction,  as  the  first  one,  has  been 
presented  in  a  detailed  and  suggestive  manner,  in  order 
to  emphasize  how  all  instruction  should  start  from  the 
pupil  and  his  nearest  surroundings,  and  should  again 
return  to  him. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  last  of  the 
above  answers  neither  can  nor  should  be  given  by  the 
pupil  in  their  completeness  and  connection,  even  though 
he  may  have  grown  in  years ;  but  the  thoughts  which 
they  contain  should  be  awakened  in  the  pupil,  and  for 
this  he  is  sufiiciently  developed  even  at  a  comparatively 
low  stage  of  judgment. 

Nor  is  it  necessary  to  say  that,  because  instruction  is 
to  be  connected  wholly  with  the  boy's  locality,  in  par- 
ticular applications  all  things  are  to  be  excluded  that  lie 
beyond  his  circle  of  experience.  It  was  the  intention 
merely  to  show  how  the  study  of  nature  and  the  outer 
world,  in  accordance  with  a  law  and  development  of  its 
own,  embraces  in  one  unbroken  unity  all  that  nature  and 
the  outer  world  may  bring  to  the  notice  of  the  student. 
Yet  these  considerations  will  present  themselves,  for  in- 
stance, in  the  study  of  commerce  and  of  the  higher 
mental  activities  of  man,  as  well  as  of  all  the  various 
pursuits  of  man ;  and  the  more  obscure  and  the  rarer 
they  are,  the  more  is  it  desirable  to  hold  them  fast  in 
order  to  reach  with  their  aid  higher  and  more  remote 
developments.  For  who  can  fail  to  see  that  the  con- 
tinual extension  of,  at  least,  external  culture  brings  to 
the  notice  of  the  inhabitants  of  even  the  most  secluded 


THE   SCHOOL   AND   THE  FAMILY.  263 

spots  ever  new  things,  and  that  the  knowledge  and  con- 
trol of  more  remote  and  higher  relations  of  life  are 
becoming  more  and  more  what  they  ought  to  be — a 
task  for  mankind  as  a  whole. 

Again,  it  was  not  deemed  necessary  to  indicate  for 
the  thoughtful  reader — and  only  thoughtful  persons 
ought  to  teach — the  various  budding-points  for  each 
new  branch  of  instruction :  e.g., for  physics,  in  the  con- 
sideration of  natural  phenomena  resulting  from  the  ob- 
vious activity  of  inner  forces  ;  and  for  chemistry,  in  the 
consideration  of  other  natural  phenomena  in  which  the 
qualities  of  material  were  changed  through  the  influence 
of  certain  natural  energies,  such  as  light  or  heat,  as  in 
the  discoloring  of  leaves  in  fall,  decay,  etc. 

In  general,  it  is  best  that  the  teacher  should  find 
these  points  himself ;  his  knowledge  will  then  be  more 
vivid  and  his  instruction  will  gain  in  interest.  And 
why  should  not  every  thoughtful  teacher  find  the 
right  way  in  himself,  if  only  he  gives  himself  up  in 
faithful  obedience,  and  without  conceit  and  distrust,  to 
the  guidance  of  the  spirit  of  his  work.  In  all  human 
beings  there  lives  and  acts  the  one  divine  spirit; 
therefore,  even  the  most  experienced  teacher,  when 
he  teaches  again  even  the  simplest  thing,  will  learn 
again — will,  teaching,  learn  again — (at  least,  this  is  the 
experience  of  the  writer  to  this  day).  How  else  could 
the  teacher  maintain  his  energy  and  courage,  which 
are  lost  so  easily  through  the  hinderances  and  diffi- 
culties that  arbitrary  ignorance  and  prejudice  oppose 
to  his  work  ? 

Hence,  it  is  well  to  meet  at  once  the  objection  that 
it  is  foolish  to  expect  a  boy — particularly  between  the 


264  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

ages  of  six  and  eight,  as  here  indicated — to  have  this  de- 
tailed knowledge  of  things  which  even  adults  scarcely 
possess. 

It  is  not  the  intention  that  he  should  possess  it,  but 
it  should  gradually  come  to  him  in  the  course  of  the 
instruction  ;  and  it  will  surely  so  come  to  him,  as  re- 
peated experience  with  the  course  here  indicated  has 
abundantly  shown.  At  the  same  time,  it  arouses  in  the 
pupil  such  a  keenness  of  observation  that  scarcely  any- 
thing of  importance  in  the  objects  around  will  escape 
him,  and  he  will  readily  find  the  proofs  of  the  teach- 
ings of  earlier  lessons.  Thus,  the  young  human  being 
learns  at  an  early  period  to  observe  and  to  think,.  Be- 
sides, boys  (human  beings)  know  more  than  they  are 
clearly  conscious  of. 

It  might  yet  be  objected  that  such  a  course  leads 
the  boy  too  soon  out  of  his  naturally  narrow  limits, 
and  might  render  him  proud  of  his  varied  knowl- 
edge. 

Varied  knowledge  in  necessary  Iwing  connection 
never  makes  one  proud,  but  causes  man  to  reflect,  and 
teaches  him  how  little  he  really  knows  ;  thus  he  is  lifted 
in  his  humanity  and  adorned  with  that  most  precious 
jewel,  modesty. 

But  it  is  impossible  to  meet  all  the  objections  that 
have  been  or  might  be  made.  Therefore,  we  leave  the 
course  to  the  consideration  of  the  reader,  though  much 
might  yet  be  said  of  its  importance.  Rightly  under- 
stood and  handled,  it  may  be  used  in  the  least  favored 
schools ;  for  it  places  man  at  an  early  period  in  the  cen- 
ter of  all  and  in  inner  connection  with  all  that  is  offered 
to  man  for  his  external  study.     Thus  he  is  led  to  reflect, 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  265 

and  gains  an  insight  into  the  character,  origin,  and  pur- 
pose of  all  things.  This,  and  the  proper  use  of  this,  is 
the  ultimate  aim  of  all  instruction,  whatever  its  name. 


D.      MEMORIZING    OF    SHORT    POETICAL    REPRESENTATIONS  OF    NATURE 
AND   LIFE,   PARTICULARLY   FOR   PURPOSES  OF   SONG. 

§  92.  ]S"ature  and  life,  in  their  phenomena,  speak  to 
man  at  a  very  early  period ;  but  they  speak  in  tones  so 
low  that  the  still  undeveloped  sense  of  the  boy,  the 
still  untrained  ear  of  man  at  this  stage  of  development, 
while  hearing  these  tones,  can  not  interpret  them  and 
translate  them  into  its  own  language.  Yet,  soon  after 
the  first  dawn  of  the  consciousness  of  self  as  distinct 
from  the  outer  world,  there  are  aroused  in  man  the 
longing  to  understand  life  and  language  of  the  external 
world,  particularly  of  nature,  and  the  hope  that  he  will 
one  day  receive  into  himself  and  make  his  own  the  life 
that  confronts  him  on  every  side. 

The  seasons  come  and  go  as  regularly  as  the  times  of 
the  day :  Spring,  with  its  tide  of  new  growth  and  wealth 
of  blossoms,  tills  man  (even  in  boyhood)  with  gladness 
and  new  life  ;  the  blood  flows  faster  and  the  heart  beats 
louder.  Autumn,  with  its  falling  brilliant  and  fragrant 
leaves,  fills  man  (even  as  boy)  with  a  sense  of  longing 
and  hope.  And  rigid  but  clear  and  steady  winter 
awakens  courage  and  vigor ;  and  these  feelings  of  cour- 
age, vigor,  perseverance,  and  renunciation  fill  the  boy's 
soul  with  a  sense  of  freedom  and  joy.  Therefore,  the 
joy  with  which  he  greets  the  first  flowers  and  birds  of 
spring  is  scarcely  as  jubilant  as  that  with  which  he 
hails  the  first  snowflakes  that  promise  to  his  vigor  and 


266  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

courage  a  smooth,  quick  road  on  which  to  fly  to  the  dis- 
tant goal.* 

All  these  things  are  presentiments  of  later  life — 
hieroglyphics  of  a  still-life  slumbering  as  yet  in  the 
soul ;  rightly  understood,  they  are  angels  that  guide 
man  through  life.  Therefore,  man  should  not  lose 
them  ;  they  should  not  vanish  in  empty  vapor  and  mist. 

What,  indeed,  is  there  in  our  life,  if  childhood  and 
youth  were  poor  and  empty,  void  of  vigorous,  living 
forms,  of  the  sense  of  longing,  hope,  and  faith  that  lifts 
life,  deprived  of  the  sense  and  consciousness  of  our 
nobler  self  ?  Are  not  childhood  and  youth,  are  not  the 
longings,  the  hope  and  faith  of  childhood  and  youth, 
the  exhaustless  fountains  of  strength,  courage,  and  per- 
severance in  later  life?  Do  not  the  words,  "The 
heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,"  etc.,  and  "  Blessed 
is  he  who  fears  the  Lord,"  etc.,  express  the  funda- 
mental thought  of  the  psalmist's  life,  in  spite  of  all 
his  errors  ? 

Even  though  this  was  not  expressed  in  words  in  his 
earliest  life,  it  yet  appears  from  his  later  life  that  it 
moved  and  lived  in  him  even  in  his  earliest  life.  And 
did  not  the  first  of  these  psalms  mirror  his  observation 
of  nature,  and  the  second  his  observation  of  life  ? 

Was  not  this,  too,  the  fundamental  thought  in  the 
life  of  the  Saviour?  Witness  his  sayings:  "Consider 
the  lilies  of  the  field  and  the  birds  of  the  air.  God 
clothes  and  feeds  them ;  how  much  more  will  he  care 
for  man,  his  child,  in  all  the  events  of  Kfe  ? "  and  "  I 
must  be  about  my  Father's  business ! "     Are  not  both 

*  A  reference  to  skating  and  coasting,  the  boy's  delight  in  winter. — Tr. 


THE   SCHOOL   AND   THE  FAMILY.  267 

of  these  based  upon  a  thoughtful  observation  of  nature 
and  life  ? 

However,  not  only  do  nature  and  life  speak  to  man, 
but  man,  too,  would  express  the  thoughts  and  feelings 
that  are  awakened  in  him,  and  for  which  he  can  not 
find  words ;  and  these  should  be  given  him  in  accord- 
ance with  the  requirements  of  his  soul-development. 

The  relation  between  man  and  man  is  neither  as 
superficial  as  some  people  suppose  nor  as  readily  com- 
municable in  its  inwardness  as  others  think.  It  is,  in- 
deed, of  deep  meaning  and  high  significance ;  but  its 
soft  chords  must  be  early  cared  for  in  the  boy,  though 
rather  more  indirectly  and  by  reflection  than  directly 
in  argument  and  precept.  The  direct  precept  fetters, 
hinders,  represses ;  it  drills  the  child  and  makes  a  pup- 
pet of  him.  The  indirect  suggestion — e.  g.,  in  the  mir- 
ror of  a  song  without  moralizing  applications — gives  to 
the  soul  and  will  of  the  boy  inner  freedom,  which  is  so 
necessary  for  his  development  and  growth ;  only,  here 
again,  the  outer  and  inner  life  of  the  boy — and  this  is 
the  first  and  indispensable  requisite — must  be  in  full 
accord  with  it. 

The  more  rarely  and  vaguely  this  may  appear  in 
life,  the  more  it  should  be  fostered  wherever  it  is  pos- 
sible to  do  so.  Even  instruction  that  scarcely  touches 
life — even  the  school,  generally  quite  distinct  from  life 
— should  foster  it. 

Let  us  enter  a  school-room — a  school-room  where 
instruction  in  this  sense  and  spirit  has  just  begun. 
Twelve  or  more  lively  boys,  six  to  nine  years  old,  are 
assembled.     They  know  that  to-day  again  they  are  to 


268 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 


have  the  pleasure  of  singing  under  the  guidance  of  their 
teacher.  In  proper  order  thej  await  the  beginning  of 
the  instruction,  of  the  lesson,  as  they  call  it.  The  teach- 
er had  been  called  away  in  the  afternoon  ;  it  is  evening. 
He  enters,  and  greets  them  repeatedly  in  song : 


\^~ 


t^ 


Good      even 


This  song-greeting  comes  unexpectedly  so  near  their 
inner  life  that  it  fills  them  with  pleasure,  joy,  and  mer- 
riment. 

Then  the  teacher  says :  "  Shall  I  have  no  answer? " 
and  sings  again  the  same  greeting.  Most  of  them  an- 
swer in  spoken  words,  "  Good  evening " ;  some  say, 
"  Thanks  "  ;  a  few  say,  in  a  more  singing  tone,  "  Good 
evening." 

These  the  teacher  now  addresses  particularly,  saying, 
"Sing  the  *Good  evening'  tome."     Softly  one  sings, 


m 


Good  even    -    ing. 

A  second  one,  full  of  merriment, 

A- 


Good  even 


A  third, 


^ 


ing. 


^^ 


Good  even 


mg. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY. 


269 


Others  whom  the  teacher  addresses  sing  in  about  the 
same  tone  after  him,  "  Good  evening." 

Then  he  sings  to  all  as  the  first,  second,  etc.,  had 
answered,  and  has  all  to  repeat  these  strains  after  him. 

He  then  continues  recitatively,  as  it  were : 


I^PE 


I 


Bleak   and  win  -  try       is      tlie       sky. 

"  Is  this  true  ? "  he  asks.     ''  Well,  then,  let  us  sing 
it  all  together." 

Again  he  continues : 


e 


-jt=^ 


1 


Winds  whis  -  tie  through  the  tree  -  tops. 

"  Is  this,  also,  true  ?  Well,  then,  let  us  sing  this  to- 
gether." Then  one  who  feels  and  can  express  the  truth 
of  these  words  most  fully,  sings  it  alone. 

Following  the  feelings  awakened  by  the  season,  and 
expressing  them  in  the  description  of  the  natural  phe- 
nomena, the  instruction  proceeds  in  antiphonic  song. 

The  instruction  is  to  develop  ear  and  voice  simulta- 
neously ;  it  is  to  express  the  feeling  in  word  and  sound. 
If  on  the  next  day  the  external  circumstances  are  simi- 
lar to  those  of  to-day,  instruction  again  begins  and  con- 
tinues similarly.  At  last,  a  lively  boy,  having  sung  the 
same  thing  again  and  again,  asks :  ''  May  we  not  soon 
have  a  song  about  the  sunshine  ? "  This  question  ex- 
presses the  boy's  inner  wish  that  the  sun  might  shine 
again  after  the  long-continued  rain  and  fog  and  blus- 


270 


THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 


tering  wind.     The  teacher,  responding  to  this  feeling, 
sings  to  the  boy : 


w= 


I 


t=^ 


ffi 


E^ 


e 


Sunshine,  laughing,  sparkling,  bright;  Sunshine,  laugh  a- way  the  night. 

Full  of  joy,  all  the  boys  repeat  it  together. 

These  first  lessons  have  been  selected  here,  because 
their  topic  is  by  no  means  the  most  favorable.     Bleak, 
chilly  fall-days,  a  wet  and  cold  evening,  do  not  call 
forth  the  inner  life.     The  morning,  the  spring,  a  walk 
on  a  beautiful  spring  day,  a  cozy  place  on  the  slope  of  a 
hill,  etc.,  would  have  been  better  fitted  to  arouse  inner 
life.     However,  the  boys  whose  expectation  has  been 
stimulated  by  this  instruction  surely  will  welcome  only 
the  more  joyously  the  first   clear  day,   revealing  tha 
fields  clothed  in  their  dress  of  snow,  or  the  first  clear, 
serene  moonlit  and  starlit  evening.     Only  the  more  fer^ 
vently  and  feelingly  will  they  sing  to  the  new  spring : 
Welcome  to  the  warm  blue  sky, 
Welcome  to  the  blossoms  gay. 
Welcome  grass  and  herbs  and  leaves. 
Decking  fields  and  groves  for  May. 
or  some  other  suitable  spring  song.     There  are  many 
well-known  good  collections  of  songs  and  small  poems 
from  which  selections  may  be  made  by  a  teacher  living 
in  his  work  and  filled  with  a  sense  of  its  worth.     If 
these  are  not  sufficiently  simple  and  impressive  in  de- 
scription or  representation  of  particular  sentiments  or 
thoughts,  an  attentive,  thoughtful  teacher  can  easily  in- 


THE    SCHOOL   AND   THE   FAMILY.  271 

terpret  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  boys  as  well  as 
the  phases  of  nature  in  living,  fitting  words. 

[Here  follow  a  few  quotations  of  songs  referring  to 
a  number  of  varied  relationships :  songs  in  which  the 
children  view  their  own  life  (Oh,  how  great  is  our 
pleasure.  When  together  w^e  plaj,  When  alone  without 
playmates.  We  are  never  so  gay)  ;  songs  in  which  indi- 
vidual life  is  pictured  (Come,  little  dove,  and  get  your 
food,  The  corn  in  my  hand  is  sweet  and  good)  ;  songs 
that  symbolize  the  life  of  animals  (songs  of  birds  and 
bees,  illustrating  affection  and  industry) ;  songs  concern- 
ing the  relations  of  human  beings  to  one  another  (songs 
of  mother-love,  of  trades,  of  helpfulness  and  sym- 
pathy) ;  etc.] 

We  should  not  forget,  however,  that  this  instruction 
— if,  in  view  of  its  representing  the  child's  own  life,  it 
may  be  called  instruction — should  start  from  the  pupil's 
own  life,  and  proceed  from  it  like  a  bud  or  sprout.  The 
boy  should  have  the  feeling,  the  inner  life,  before  he 
receives  the  words  or  melodies.  This  is  the  essential 
difference  between  the  instruction  suggested  here  and 
that  in  which  children  learn  mechanically  small  songs 
and  poems  coming  wholly  from  without,  neither  arous- 
ing life  nor  representing  it. 

In  general,  indeed,  all  that  was  said  concerning  the 
memorizing  of  religious  maxims — particularly  at  the 
outset — is  true  here. 

[Like  other  material  of  instruction,  songs  should  not  at  these 
early  periods  be  learned  for  their  own  sake.  They  should  come  as 
the  quasi-spontaneous  expression  of  certain  emotional  conditions,  as 
language  expresses  spontaneously  certain  intellectual  states.  The 
teacher  should  bring  the  song  at  the  right  time  as  her  own  way  of 


2T2  THE   EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 

expressing  delight  or  some  other  feeling,  should  sing  it  to  enliven  the 
game  or  the  work,  or  after  a  suitable  story.  In  this  way  the  interest 
of  the  majority  of  the  children  would  be  enlisted ;  they  would  get 
the  spirit  of  the  song,  and  would  be  able  to  repeat  or  use  much,  pos- 
sibly all,  of  it  after  the  very  first  time. 

Of  course,  much  depends  on  the  character  of  the  song  and  its 
adaptation  to  the  child's  wants.  Much  hinderance,  too,  comes  from 
the  excessive  use  of  the  piano.  This  instrument  should  not  be  used 
until  the  children  thoroughly  possess  the  song,  so  that  the  instru- 
ment may  accompany  them  instead  of  teaching  them.  Because  of 
the  unavoidable  inaccuracies  of  its  intervals  it  is  a  poor  teacher,  but 
by  good  tempering  it  may  be  made  a  helpful  accompanist. 

The  words  of  the  song  should  be  neither  too  puerile,  as  in  "  Little 
Bo  Peep,"  nor  beyond  the  child's  comprehension ;  the  pitch  of  the 
melodies  should  be  neither  too  high  nor,  particularly,  too  low.  The 
singing  of  scales  and  interval  exercises  should  be  relegated  to  later 
periods.  Even,  with  the  help  of  colors,  these  exercises  are  unsuitable 
for  earlier  periods,  inasmuch  as  they  give  too  much  prominence  to 
singing  as  a  branch  of  instruction. — Tr.] 


E.   LANGUAGE-EXERCISES,    BASED    ON    THE    OBSERVATION     OF     NATURE 
AND   SURROUNDINGS. 

§  93.  The  observation  of  nature  and  surroundings 
considers  things  merely  as  such  with  reference  to  their 
individual  peculiarities  and  their  general,  more  particu- 
larly local,  relations.  Language,  as  a  means  of  observa- 
tion, plays  a  subordinate  part  in  this ;  for  man  observes 
things  and  forms  ideas  concerning  them  without  speak, 
ing ;  but  in  instruction  language  comes  in  as  an  auxil- 
iary in  order  to  furnish  tests  of  the  extent  and  accuracy 
of  the  pupil's  observations. 

Now  language-exercises,  too,  are  connected  with  ob- 
jects, but  they  consider  objects  with  reference  to  their 
impressions  on  the  senses,  and  are  chiefly  concerned 
with  the  designations  of  these  things  in  words. 


THE  SCHOOL   AND   THE  FAMILY.  273 

Observation  of  nature  and  surroundings  is  con- 
cerned with  the  objects  themselves,  language-exercises 
chieflj  with  their  representation  m  audible  speech,  and 
particularly  with  practice  and  skill  in  language  as  a 
means  of  representation,  though  in  intimate  connection 
with  the  objects  themselves.  The  observation  of  nature 
and  surroundings  asks  :  "  What  is  ? "  Language-exer- 
cise asks :  "  How  does  language  designate  that  which 
is?" 

"While  the  observation  of  nature  and  surroundings 
considers  only  the  object  as  such,  language-exercises 
consider  its  effect  on  the  senses  of  man  and  the  proper 
designation  of  these  impressions  by  words.  This  im- 
plies at  once  a  third  field  of  observation,  the  observation 
of  language  as  such  and  without  reference  to  the  object 
designated,  but  only  as  a  result  of  the  use  of  the  organs 
of  speech.  These  are  grammatical  exercises,  and  are 
based  directly  on  the  language-exercises. 

Complete  preparation  for  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
language  and  thorough  skill  in  its  use  implies,  therefore, 
three  things  :  First,  the  observation  of  the  sensuous  ob- 
jects of  language — the  observation  of  the  outer  world  ; 
secondly,  the  observation  of  language  and  objects  in 
connection  with  one  another,  passing  from  the  outer  to 
the  inner  world — exercises  in  language ;  lastly,  observa- 
tion of  language  as  such,  without  reference  to  the  ob- 
jects designated — grammatical  exercises. 

The  course  of  instruction  in  the  observation  of  sur- 
roundings has  already  been  indicated.  The  course  of 
instruction  in  language-exercises,  based  on  sense-observa- 
tion and  rising  to  inner  perception,  is  the  following : 


274  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

The  teacher  begins :  "  We  are  in  a  room  ;  many 
things  are  around  us;  name  some  of  these  things?" 
"  Mirror,  stove,  book-case,  etc."  "  Could  we  put  other 
things  into  the  room  ? "  "  Yes."  "  Could  we  put  as 
many  things  into  the  room  as  we  please  ? "  "  ISTo." 
"  Why  not  ? "  "  Because  there  would  not  be  room 
enough  for  them."  "Why  would  there  not  be  room 
enough  ? "  "  Because  each  thing  takes  up  its  own 
room."  "Prove  and  illustrate  that."  "My  hand  can 
not  be  where  my  slate  is.  Where  I  write,  my  neighbor 
can  not  write  at  the  same  time.  Where  the  stove 
stands,  there  is  not  room  at  the  same  time  for  the  book- 
case." "  What  is  meant,  then,  by  saying  that  each 
thing  takes  up  its  own  room?"  "Where  one  thing  is 
or  acts,  no  other  thing  can  be  or  act." 

"  In  what  manner  and  by  what  means  do  you  per- 
ceive the  presence  and  actions  of  things  in  their 
places?"  "By  my  hands,  ears,  eyes,  etc."  "  We  call 
the  organs  by  which  we  perceive  things  our  eyes,  ears, 
hands,  etc.,  and  the  activities  by  which  we  do  this — 
hearing,  seeing,  touching,  etc. — our  senses.  We  per- 
ceive things,  then,  by  our  senses."  "  How  do  we 
recognize  and  perceive  things?  Name  the  senses  by 
which  we  recognize  and  perceive  an  object  and  its 
actions.  Can  we  say  of  every  object  that  it  does  some- 
thing?" "Yes,  and  no."  "Why?  !Name  of  every 
object  around  us  something  it  does,  and  by  which  you 
notice  it."  "The  mirror  hangs,  the  sun  shines,  the 
scholar  sits,  etc." 

[Froebel  here  continues  in  the  same  strain  to  develop 
successively  a  number  of  related  ideas,  as  indicated  in 
the  subjoined  translator's  synopsis : 


THE  SCHOOL   AND   THE  FAMILY.  2Y5 

First,  tlie  fact  is  brought  out  that  these  things  are 
perceived  by  diiferent  senses — some  chiefly  by  sight, 
others  by  hearing,  etc.  Particular  attention  is  then  paid 
to  the  sense  of  touch  as  perceiving  that  the  inkstand 
stands,  the  slate  lies,  etc. ;  and  it  is  found  that  the  same 
things  may  also  be  perceived  by  the  sense  of  sight. 
Then  objects  are  named  which  actually  stand — the  house 
stands,  the  pole  stands,  etc. ;  others  of  which  it  is  said 
that  they  stand  (still) — the  water  stands  (still),  the  sun 
stands  (still),  etc.  Then  objects  are  named  that  lie^  lean, 
hang,  sit,  etc.,  and  others  that  are  said  to  lie,  lean,  etc. 
It  is  found  that  all  these  activities  have  this  in  common, 
that  they  are  only  internal  and  without  external  motion. 
States  of  internal  activity  with  external  rest  in  man  are 
then  enumerated — man  rests,  sleeps,  dreams,  thinks,  etc. ; 
objects  that  actually  rest,  sleep,  etc. ;  objects  that  show 
external  and  at  the  same  time  progressive  motion — go, 
run,  flow,  fly,  etc. ;  objects  with  externally  visible  mo- 
tion without  progression — heave,  swell,  boil,  ripen,  etc. ; 
objects  with  external  progressive  motion  communicated 
to  other  objects — draw,  ride,  lift,  etc. ;  separating  activi- 
ties— cut,  break,  etc. ;  uniting  activities — bind,  weave, 
etc. ;  formative  activities — paint,  write,  etc. ;  activities 
that  can  be  seen  only — shine,  sparkle,  etc. ;  activities 
that  can  be  felt  only — ^hurt,  heat,  etc. ;  that  can  be  heard 
only  ;  general  activities  of  nature — storm,  rain,  etc. ;  ob- 
jects with  chiefly  inner  mental  activity — love,  hate,  etc. ; 
with  reflexive  activity — cut  one's  self,  wash  one's  self, 
etc. ;  activities  exclusively  belonging  to  man ;  peculiar- 
ities of  such  activities. 

It  is  then  found  that  objects  impress  the  senses  not 
only  by  activities,  but  also  by  certain  qualities;  it  is 


276  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

found  that  the  inkstand  is  round,  the  pencil  long,  etc. ; 
many  other  actually  round  things  are  found;  things 
that  are  said  to  be  round — round  number,  round  answer, 
etc, ;  the  distinction  between  the  roundness  of  the  circle 
(circular)  and  that  of  the  sphere  (spherical)  is  made,  and 
objects  that  have  these  shapes  are  named ;  from  these 
he  proceeds  to  cylindrical,  oval,  elhptical,  triangular,  etc., 
and  all  these  impressions  are  united  as  impressions  of 
form  or  shajpe.  Similarly,  broad,  narrow,  thick,  etc., 
are  classed  as  impressions  of  size  or  extent  /  others  as 
impressions  of  numler,  surface  impressions,  material 
impressions  (wooden,  leaden,  etc.),  of  cohesion  (hard, 
solid,  etc.),  of  light  and  color,  of  odor,  etc.] 

The  observation  of  surroundings  has  already  shown 
clearly  the  budding-points  for  the  development  of  phys- 
ics and  chemistry  as  future  distinct  subjects  of  instruc- 
tion (see  §  91).  Language-exercises,  based  on  the  obser- 
vation of  nature  and  surroundings,  in  considering  the 
activities  and  impressions  of  objects,  and  their  precise 
and  accurate  designation  by  words,  must  revert  to  phys- 
ics and  chemistry.  They  will  do  this  the  more  directly, 
the  more  exhaustively  the  conditions  and  causes  of  those 
activities  and  impressions  which  result  from  the  effects 
of  inner  forces  and  constituent  material  have  been 
studied  and  the  more  suitably  they  have  been  designated 
by  language.  Surely  the  physical  and  chemical  sides  of 
nature-study,  so  important  for  man,  will  strike  their 
roots  the  deeper  in  the  pupil's  interest  the  more  this  in- 
struction has  been  exhaustive  of  essentials. 

Unquestionably  these  sides  of  nature-  and  language- 
study  receive  too  little  attention  in  ordinary  life ;  for 
this  reason,  and  because  they  prepare  for  the  study  of 


THE   SCHOOL   AND  THE  FAMILY.  277 

physics  and  chemistry,  they  should  be  specially  consid- 
ered in  this  instruction,  otherwise  the  future  instruction 
in  those  sciences  will  have  no  basis ;  it  will  not  be  a 
living  branch  sprouting  forth  spontaneously  from  the 
tree. of  human  knowledge,  but,  at  best,  an  ingrafted 
limb.  Surely  many  whose  senses  and  interest  have  not 
been  awakened  in  these  directions  in  boyhood,  but  who, 
nevertheless,  at  a  later  period  took  up  these  sciences, 
can  corroborate  this. 

On  account  of  the  importance  of  these  studies,  to 
which  these  lauguage-exercises  revert  again  and  again, 
the  subject  is  treated  so  much  in  its  details.  The  boy 
is  thereby  placed  in  the  very  center  of  the  surrounding 
external  world,  inasmuch  as  he  studies  things  in  the 
most  varied  relations  to  one  another,  to  man,  and  to 
himself ;  thus  he  finds  not  only  himself,  but  establishes 
equilibrium  and  harmony  between  his  inner  mental  cult- 
ure and  the  outer  world  of  things. 

The  study  of  number,  form,  and  size — or  mathe- 
matics— is  a  direct  outcome  of  this  instruction;  the 
budding-points  (see  §  91)  for  these  are  evident  in  what 
has  been  indicated  heretofore.  For  the  knowledge  of 
number,  form,  and  size — if  at  a  later  period  they  are  to 
be  effective  and  fruitful  in  life — must  needs  be  based  on 
the  observation  of  actual  space-relations. 

[Froebel  then  continues  his  suggestions  concerning 
the  course  of  language-lessons:  "You  said  formerly, 
'  The  bush  is  thorny,'  etc."  They  are  taught  to  render 
the  same  thoughts  in  the  form :  "  The  bush  has  thorns, 
the  tree  has  leaves,"  etc.  Then  they  name  similar  rela- 
tions in  which  "  one  thing  has  the  other  thing.     Man 

has  hands,  the  hands  have  fingers,"  etc. ;   they  name 

20 


278  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

things  that  have  a  skin,  scales,  feathers,  etc. ;  thej  are 
led  to  say  where  one  thing  has  the  other  thing :  "  The 
tree  has  leaves  on  the  branches,"  etc. ;  they  name  things 
that  are  at  rest  in  some  way  on  another  thing :  "  The  pict- 
ure hangs  on  the  wall,"  etc. ;  other  relations  of  position 
(at,  over,  under,  between,  etc.)  are  named  and  variously 
illustrated ;  the  name-relations  of  position  in  which  one 
of  the  objects  is  in  motion  with  reference  to  the  other 
— the  teacher  comes  to  school,  the  bird  flies  on  the  tree, 
etc. ;  the  two  relations  are  compared — the  picture  hangs 
on  the  wall,  the  picture  is  hung  on  the  wall,  etc.  He 
concludes  the  paragraph  in  the  following  words :] 

The  further  presentation  of  this  subject  of  instruc- 
tion must  here  be  interrupted  for  want  of  space.  Let 
me  merely  add  that,  in  designating  these  relations  in 
language,  we  should  proceed  from  the  simple  to  the 
complex,  and  conclude  with  a  comprehensive  description 
or  narrative  exposition  of  actual  phenomena. 


p.    EXERCISE  IN  SYSTEMATIC  OUTWARD    CORPOREAL   REPRESENTATION, 
PROCEEDING   FROM   THE   SIMPLE   TO  THE   COMPLEX. 

§  94.  Man  is  developed  and  cultured  toward  the 
fulfillment  of  his  destiny  and  mission,  and  is  to  be  valued, 
even  in  boyhood,  not  only  by  what  he  receives  and  ab- 
sorbs from  without,  but  much  more  by  what  he  puts 
out  and  unfolds  from  himself. 

Experience  and  history,  too,  teach  that  men  truly 
and  effectively  promote  human  welfai*e  much  more  by 
what  they  put  forth  from  themselves  than  by  what  they 
may  have  acquired.  Every  one  knows  that  those  who 
truly  teach,  gain  steadily  in  knowledge  and  insight ; 


THE   SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  279 

Bimilarly,  every  one  knows,  for  nature  herself  teaches 
this,  that  the  use  of  a  force  enhances  and  intensifies  the 
force.  Again,  to  learn  a  thing  in  life  and  through  do- 
ing is  much  more  developing,  cultivating,  and  strength- 
ening, than  to  learn  it  merely  through  the  verbal  com- 
munication of  ideas.  Similarly,  plastic  material  rep- 
resentation in  life  and  through  doing,  united  with 
thought  and  speech,  is  by  far  more  developing  and  cul- 
tivating than  the  merely  verbal  representation  of  ideas. 
Therefore,  this  subject  of  instruction  necessarily  follows 
the  subjects  just  considered. 

The  life  of  the  boy  has,  indeed,  no  purpose  but  that 
of  the  outer  representation  of  his  self;  his  life  is,  in 
truth,  but  an  external  representation  of  his  inner  being, 
of  his  power,  particularly  in  and  through  (plastic)  ma- 
terial (see  §  23,  49). 

In  the  forms  he  fashions  he  does  not  see  outer  forms 
which  he  is  to  take  in  and  understand ;  but  he  sees  in 
them  the  expression  of  his  spirit,  of  the  laws  and  ac- 
tivities of  his  own  mind.  For  the  purpose  of  teaching 
and  instruction  is 

to  bring  ever  more  out  of  man  rather  than  to  put 
more  and  more  vnto  him ;  for  that  which  can  get  into 
man  we  already  know  and  possess  as  the  property  of 
mankind,  and  ^iWQYj  one,  simply  because  he  is  g,  hu- 
man being,  will  unfold  and  develop  it  out  of  himself 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  mankind.  On  the 
other  hand,  what  yet  is  to  come  out  of  mankind, 
what  human  nature  is  yet  to  develop,  that  we  do  not 
yet  know,  that  is  not  yet  the  property  of  mankind ; 
and,  still,  human  nature,  like  the  spirit  of  God,  is 
ever  unfolding  its  inner  essence. 


280  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

However  clearly  this  might  and  should  appear  from 
the  observation  of  our  own  and  all  other  life,  even  the 
best  among  us,  like  plants  near  a  calcareous  spring,  are 
so  encrusted  with  extraneous  prejudices  and  opinions, 
that  only  with  greatest  effort  and  self -constraint  we  give 
even  limited  heed  to  the  better  view.  Let  us  confess  at 
least  that,  when,  with  the  best  intentions  toward  our 
children,  we  speak  of  their  development  and  education, 
we  should  rather  say  67^velopment  and  education ;  that 
we  should  not  even  speak  of  culture  which  implies  the 
development  of  the  mind,  of  the  will  of  man,  but  rather 
of  stamping  and  molding,  however  proudly  we  may 
claim  to  have  passed  beyond  these  mind-killing  practices. 

Those  to  whom  we  intrust  our  children  for  educa- 
tion may,  therefore,  well  be  full  of  anxiety.  What 
shall  they  do  ? 

Jesus,  whom  we  all  from  innermost  conviction  con- 
sider our  highest  ideal,  says  :  "  Suffer  the  little  children 
to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not :  for  of  such  is 
the  kingdom  of  God."  Is  not  the  meaning  of  this : 
Forbid  them  not,  for  the  life  given  them  by  their 
heavenly  Father  still  lives  in  them  in  its  original  whole- 
ness— its  free  unfolding  is  still  possible  with  them.  Do 
we  not  in  this,  as  in  all  that  Jesus  says,  recognize  the 
voice  of  God  ?  Whom,  now,  shall  the  educator  obey, 
God  or  man  ?  And  whom,  if  he  could  do  so,  shall  he 
deceive,  God  or  man  ? 

God  he  can  not  deceive,  and  men  he  should  not  de- 
ceive. Therefore,  he  should  obey  God  rather  than 
men,  and  he  should  say  distinctly  that  he  means  to  obey 
God  rather  than  men,  and  do  so ;  he  should  rather  not 
educate  at  all  than  to  educate  badly  and  in  wrong  direc- 


THE   SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  281 

tions.  For  God,  and  not  prejudiced  man,  gives  the  true 
educator  his  calling ;  for  only  in  all-sided,  natural,  and 
rational  development  of  himself  and  his  spiritual  power 
man  iinds  his  welfare  and  the  welfare  of  mankind,  and 
'every  other  course  hinders  the  true  development  of 
mankind. 

But  just  with  respect  to  natural  and  rational  all- 
sided  development  and  representation  of  ourselves  in 
external  visible  works,  in  external  productive  activity, 
our  domestic  education  is  most  superficial  and  unsys- 
tematic ;  therefore,  domestic  education  is  particularly  in 
need  of  schooling — i.  e.,  induction  into  a  natural  and 
rational  system  of  procedure. 

The  outer  material  representation  of  the  spiritual  in 
man  must  begin  with  efforts  on  his  part  to  spiritualize 
the  corporeal  about  him  by  giving  it  life  and  a  spiritual 
relation  and  significance. 

This  is  indicated  in  the  course  of  development  of 
mankind  itself :  the  corporeal  material  with  which  the 
representation  of  the  spiritual  is  to  begin  must  present 
and  distinctly  declare  even  in  its  external  form  the 
laws  and  conditions  of  inner  development — it  must  be 
rectangular,  cubical,  beam-shaped,  and  brick-shaped. 

The  formations  made  with  this  material  are  either 
external  aggregations — constructive — or  developments 
from  -wiiYLm— formative. 

Building,  aggregation,  is  first  with  the  child,  as  it  is 
first  in  the  development  of  mankind,  and  in  crystalli- 
zation. 

The  importance  of  the  vertical,  the  horizontal,  and 
the  rectangular  is  the  first  experience  which  the  boy 
gathers  from  his  building ;  then  follow  equilibrium  and 


282  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

symmetry.  Thus  he  ascends  from  the  construction  of  the 
simplest  wall  with  or  without  cement  to  the  more  com- 
plex and  even  to  the  invention  of  every  architectural 
structure  lying  within  the  possibilities  of  the  given 
material. 

Laying  or  arranging  tablets  beside  one  another  on  a 
plane  has  much  less  charm  for  the  boy  than  placing  or 
piling  them  on  one  another — a  clear  proof  of  the  ten- 
dency of  the  mind  for  all-sided  development,  manifested 
in  all  his  activities. 

The  joining  of  lines  seems  to  come  still  later.  Thus, 
the  course  of  human  development  and  culture  seems  to 
free  itself  more  and  more  from  corporeality,  to  become 
more  and  more  spiritualized ;  drawing  takes  the  place 
of  the  joining  of  concrete  lines  or  splints ;  painting,  the 
place  of  tablet-work ;  true  modeling,  the  corporeal  de- 
velopment from  cubical  forms,  the  place  of  corporeal 
building. 

In  spite  of  this  obvious,  living,  progressive  develop- 
ment from  the  external  and  corporeal  to  the  inner  and 
spiritual,  in  spite  of  this  continuous  progression  in  the 
growth  of  human  culture,  some  nevertheless  are  in- 
clined to  doubt  the  utility  of  these  exercises  for  children. 

And  yet  even  these  could  not  have  reached  the  de- 
gree of  general  culture  they  enjoy,  if  Providence — rul- 
ing in  secret — had  not  led  them  on  this  very  way,  either 
without  their  knowledge  or  through  their  own  persever- 
ance against  the  opposition  of  their  surroundings. 

Man  should,  at  least  mentally,  repeat  the  achieve- 
ments of  mankind,  that  they  may  not  be  to  him  empty, 
dead  masses,  that  his  judgment  of  them  may  not  be  ex- 
ternal and  spiritless;  he  should  mentally  go  over  the 


THE   SCHOOL   AND  THE  FAMILY.  283 

ways  of  mankind,  tliat  lie  may  learn  to  understand  them. 
IN'evertheless  some  are  inclined  to  consider  these  things 
useless  in  the  boyhood  of  their  children  (see  §  15). 

Perhaps,  however,  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  so  far ; 
but  you  do  know  that  your  sons  need  energy,  judgment, 
perseverance,  prudence,  etc.,  and  that  these  things  are  in- 
dispensable to  them ;  and  all  these  things  they  are  sure  to 
get  (in  the  course  indicated),  and  by  far  more,  for  idle- 
ness, ennui,  ignorance,  brooding,  are  the  most  terrible 
of  poisons  to  growing  childhood  and  boyhood,  and  their 
opposites  a  panacea  of  mental  and  physical  health,  of 
domestic  and  civil  welfare. 

The  course  of  instruction  here,  too,  determines  itself, 
as  it  does,  indeed,  in  all  cases  when  we  have  found  the 
true  starting-point,  when  we  have  apprehended  the  sub- 
ject of  instruction  and  grasped  its  pui-pose. 

The  material  for  building  in  the  beginning  should 
consist  of  a  number  of  wooden  blocks,  whose  base  is 
always  one  square  inch  and  whose  length  varies  from 
one  to  twelve  inches.  If,  then,  we  take  twelve  pieces 
of  each  length,  two  sets — e.  g.,  the  pieces  one  and  eleven, 
the  pieces  two  and  ten  inches  long,  etc. — will  always 
make  up  a  layer  an  inch  thick  and  covering  one  square 
foot  of  surface ;  so  that  all  the  pieces,  together  with  a 
few  larger  pieces,  occupy  a  space  of  somewhat  more 
than  half  a  cubic  foot.  It  is  best  to  keep  these  in  a  box 
that  has  exactly  these  dimensions ;  such  a  box  may  be 
used  in  many  other  ways  in  instruction,  as  will  appear 
in  the  progress  of  the  boy's  development. 

The  material  next  to  this  will  consist  of  building- 
bricks  of  such  dimensions  that  eight  of  them  will  form 


284  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

a  cube  of  two  inches  to  the  side.  In  the  former  set  of 
blocks  there  was  the  same  number  of  each  kind  and 
length.  In  this  set,  the  greatest  number  of  blocks — at 
least  live  hundred — are  of  the  described  brick-shape  and 
size  ;  in  addition  there  are  successively  smaller  numbers 
of  twice,  thrice,  to  six  times  the  length  indicated,  as 
well  as  some  of  half  the  length. 

The  first  thing  the  boy  should  learn  is  to  distinguish, 
name,  and  classify  the  material  according  to  size.  Dur- 
ing the  progress  of  building,  too,  it  should  always  be 
carefully  arranged  according  to  size.  In  the  next  place, 
all  that  has  been  produced  should  be  carefully  and  ac- 
curately described  by  the  boy — e.  g.,  I  have  built  a  ver- 
tical wall  with  vertical  ends,  a  door,  and  two  windows 
at  equal  distances ;  the  bricks  are  placed  alternately,  or 
so  that  in  each  upper  row  each  brick  rests  on  and  covers 
the  ends  of  two  bricks  below. 

Subsequently,  a  simple  building  with  only  one  door 
may  be  put  up  ;  then,  the  number  of  doors  and  windows 
is  increased ;  at  last,  partitions,  another  story,  etc.,  are 
added. 

Similar  considerations  control  the  work  with  tablets, 
although  the  forms  are  more  complicated.  Still  greater 
diversity  is  attainable  wdth  linear  splints  one  half  to  five 
inches  long,  with  special  reference  to  writing,  drawing, 
and  building. 

Modeling  with  paper  and  paste-board  has  its  peculiar 
progressive  course. 

Still  more  profitable,  but  only  for  those  who  have 
attained  a  certain  degree  of  mental  power,  is  the  model- 
ing of  plastic  soft  material  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
indicated  by  the  cubical  form.     However,  this,  as  well 


THE   SCHOOL   AND   THE   FAMILY.  285 

as  the  free  modeling  of  the  same  material,  belongs  to  a 
later  part  of  the  period  of  boyhood. 

[In  this  and  the  succeeding  paragraphs  we  have  the  first  indica- 
tions of  the  sytem  of  gifts  and  occupations  subsequently  developed  in 
Froebel's  kindergarten.  Even  at  the  date  of  the  publication  of 
"  Education  of  Man,"  Froebel  appreciated  the  value  of  simple  play- 
things, but,  as  the  paragraphs  here  translated  show,  his  ideas  on 
the  subject  were  still  crude.  Not  before  1835,  he  gained  from  some 
children  playing  ball  in  a  meadow  near  Burgdorf  the  inspiration 
that  the  hall  is  the  simplest  and  as  such  should  be  made  the  first 
plaything  of  the  little  child.  In  1836  he  had  reached  the  first  five 
gifts,  and  even  among  these  the  second  gift  lacked  the  cylinder,  and 
the  fifth  gift  consisted  of  twenty-seven  entire  cubes.  The  cylinder 
was  added  to  the  second  gift,  probably  not  before  1844,  when  the 
idea  of  the  external  mediation  of  contrasts  in  educational  work  was 
first  clearly  seen  and  formulated  by  him.  In  a  weekly  journal  which 
Froebel  began  to  publish  in  1850,  a  System  of  Gifts  arid  Occupa- 
tions, similar  to  the  one  now  used  in  kindergartens,  is  described. 
These  are  arranged  by  Hanschmannin  thirty-six  gifts,  by  Marenholtz- 
Biilow  in  eleven  gifts  .and  eight  occupations,  with  the  promise  of 
more  for  advanced  work.  A  few  modifications  and  additions  have 
been  made  since  Froebel's  death.  So  far  as  they  seem  to  be  in  ac- 
cordance with  Froebel's  thought,  they  have  been  embodied  with  the 
Synoptical  Table  given  below.  This  table  gives  a  concise  description 
of  each  gift  where  this  appeared  desirable ;  and,  in  the  first  six  gifts, 
a  few  words  are  added  in  brackets,  [  ],  designating  in  order  the  chief 
external  (1)  and  internal  (2)  characteristic  of  the  gift,  and  the  essen- 
tial lesson  (3)  which  the  gift,  could  it  speak,  is  meant  to  teach  the 
child. 

SYNOPTICAL  TABLE   OF  GIFTS  AND   OCCUPATIONS. 

Gifts. 

A.  Bodies  (Solids). 

I.  [Color  (1) ;— Individuality  (2) ;— "  We  are  here !  "  (3).]  Six 
colored  worsted  balls,  about  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diam- 
eter.—i^iVs^  Gift. 
IL  [Shape  (1) ;  —  Personality  (2) ;  —  "  We  live ! "  (3) .]  Wooden 
ball,  cylinder,  and  cube,  one  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter. 
— Second  Gift 


286  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

III.  [Number  (divisibility)  (1) ;— Self-activity  (2) ;— "  Come,   play 

with  us  (3)."]      Eight  one-inch  cubes,  forming  a  two-inch 
cube  (2  X  2  X  2).— Third  Gift. 

IV.  [Extent  (1) ;  — Obedience    (2);  — "Study  us!"  (3).]      Eight 

brick-shaped  blocks  (2  x  1  x  ^),  forming  a  two-inch  cube. 
—Fourth  Gift. 
V.  [Symmetry  (1) ;— Unity  (2) ;— "  How  beautiful ! "  (3) .]  Twenty- 
seven  one-inch  cubes,  three  bisected  and  three  quadrisected 
diagonally,  forming  a  three-inch  cube  ( 3  x  3  x  3). — Fifth 
Gift. 
VI.  [Proportion  (1); — Free  obedience  (2); — "Be  our  master!" 
(3).]  Twenty-seven  brick-shaped  blocks,  three  bisected 
longitudinally  and  six  bisected  transversely,  forming  a 
three-inch  cube. — Sixth  Gift. 

B.  Surfaces. — Wooden  i&b\Qts.— Seventh  Gift. 

I.  Squares  (derived  from  the  faces  of  the  second  or  third  gift 

cubes). 

1.  Entire  squares  (one-and-a-half  in.  square  or  one-inch 
square). 

2.  Half  squares  (squares  cut  diagonally). 

II.  Equilateral  triangles  (length  of  side,  one  inch,  or  one  inch 
and  a  half). 

1.  Entire  triangles. 

3.  Half  triangles  (the  equilateral  triangle  is  cut  in  the 
direction  of  the  altitude,  yielding  right  scalene  tri- 
angles, acute  angles  of  60°  and  30°). 

3.  Thirds  of  triangles  (the  equilateral  triangle  is  cut 
from  the  center  to  the  vertices,  yielding  obtuse  isosceles 
triangles,  angles  30°  and  120°). 

C.  LmES.— Eighth  Gift. 

I.  Straight.    (Splints  of  various  lengths.) 

II.  Circular.    (Metal  or  paper  rings  of  various  sizes ;  whole  cir- 

cles, half  circles,  and  quadrants  are  used.) 

D.  Points. — Beans,  lentils,  or  other  seeds,  leaves,  pebbles,  pieces  of 

card-board  or  paper,  etc. — Ninth  Gift. 

E.  Reconstruction. — (By  analysis  the  "  system "    has  descended 

from  the  solid  to  the  point.  This  last  gift  enables  the  child 
to  reconstruct  the  surface  and  solid  synthetically  from  the 
point.  It  consists  of  softened  pease  or  wax  pellets  and  sharp- 
ened sticks  or  straws.) — 2'enth  Gift, 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  287 


Occnpations. 

A.  Solids.    (Plastic  clay,  card-board  work,  wood-carving,  etc.) 

B.  Surfaces.    (Paper-folding,  paper-cutting,  parquetry,  painting, 

etc.) 

C.  Lines.    (Interlacing,  intertwining,  weaving,  thread  games,  em- 

broidery, drawing,  etc.) 

D.  Points.    (Stringing  beads,  buttons,  etft. ;  perforating,  etc.) 

The  distinction  between  the  gifts  and  occupations,  though  never 
clearly  formulated  by  Froebel,  is  very  important.  The  gifts  are  in- 
tended to  give  the  child  from  time  to  time  new  universal  aspects  of 
the  external  world,  suited  to  a  child's  development.  The  occupations^ 
on  the  other  hand,  furnish  material  for  practice  in  certain  phases  of 
skill.  Anything  will  do  for  an  occupation,  provided  it  is  sufficiently 
plastic  and  within  the  child's  powers  of  control ;  but  the  gift  in  form 
and  material  is  determined  by  the  cosmic  phase  to  be  brought  to  the 
child's  apprehension,  and  by  the  condition  of  the  child's  development 
at  the  period  for  which  the  gift  is  intended.  Thus,  nothing  but  the 
First  Gift  can  so  effectively  arouse  in  the  child's  mind  the  feeling 
and  consciousness  of  a  world  of  individual  things;  but  there  are 
numberless  occupations  that  will  enable  the  child  to  become  skillful 
in  the  manipulation  of  surfaces. 

The  gift  gives  the  child  a  new  cosmos,  the  occupation  fixes  the 
impressions  made  by  the  gift.  The  gift  invites  only  arranging  ac- 
tivities ;  the  occupation  invites  also  controlling,  modifying,  trans- 
forming, creating  activities.  The  gift  leads  to  discovery ;  the  oc- 
cupation, to  invention.  The  gift  gives  insight;  the  occupation, 
power. 

The  occupations  are  one-sided  ;  the  gifts,  many-sided,  universal. 
The  occupations  touch  only  certain  phases  of  being ;  the  gifts  en- 
list the  whole  being  of  the  child. 

Froebel  has  formulated  four  conditions  which  true  gifts  should 
satisfy : 

1.  They  should,  each  in  its  time,  fully  represent  the  child's  outer 
world,  his  macrocosm. 

2.  They  should,  each  in  its  time,  enable  the  child  to  give  satis- 
factory expression  in  play  to  his  inner  world,  his  microcosm. 

3.  Each  gift  should,  therefore,  in  itself  represent  a  complete, 
orderly  whole  or  unit. 


288  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

4.  Each  gift  should  contain  all  the  preceding,  and  foreshadow 
all  the  succeeding  gifts. 

In  short,  each  gift  should,  in  due  time  and  in  the  widest  sense, 
aid  the  child  "  to  make  the  external  internal,  the  internal  external, 
and  to  find  the  unity  between  the  two." — Tr.] 


G.     DRAWING  IN  THE   NET-WORK,   OR    IN  ACCORDANCE   WITH   OUTWARD 

LAW. 

§  95.  However  little  we  may  appreciate  the  fact  or 
be  able  to  account  for  it,  the  horizontal  and  vertical 
directions  mediate  our  apprehension  of  all  forms.  We 
refer,  however  unconsciously,  all  forms  to  these  direc- 
tions. In  our  imagination  we  constantly  draw  these 
lines  across  our  field  of  vision ;  we  see  and  think  accord- 
ing to  these  ;  and  thus  there  grows  in  our  conscious- 
ness a  net-work  of  lines  keeping  pace  in  clearness  and 
distinctness  with  our  consideration  of  the  forms  of 
things. 

Now  form,  and  whatever  may  depend  on  form, 
reveals  in  various  ways  inner  spiritual  energy.  To  rec- 
ognize this  inner  energy  is  a  part  of  man's  destiny ;  for 
thereby  he  learns  to  know  himself,  his  relation  to  his 
surroundings,  and,  consequently,  absolute  being.  It  is, 
therefore,  an  essential  part  of  human  education  to  teach 
the  human  being,  not  only  how  to  apprehend  but  also 
how  to  represent  form ;  and,  inasmuch  as  the  perpen- 
dicular relations  (of  the  vertical  and  horizontal)  aid  the 
development  of  form-consciousness,  the  external  repre- 
sentation of  these  relations  as  a  means  for  the  study  and 
representation  of  form  is  based  on  the  very  nature  of 
man  and  of  the  subject  of  instruction. 

Now,  if  the  representation  of  the  vertical  and  hori- 


THE   SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  289 

zontal  directions  is  repeated  at  regular  intervals,  the  re- 
sult is  a  network  of  equal  squares. 

As  an  auxiliary  form,  the  square  very  much  facili- 
tates representations  in  the  field  of  vision,  particularly  in 
enlarged  and  reduced  scales.  By  this  fact  its  use  is  still 
further  justified. 

The  use  of  the  triangle  as  a  help  in  the  study  and 
representation  of  form  is  derived,  as  will  be  seen  in  the 
course  of  the  instruction,  from  the  use  of  the  square. 

In  the  use  of  the  square,  the  amount  of  inclination 
(of  a  line)  is  determined  by  measurable  relations  to  the 
sides,  but  in  the  use  of  the  triangle  it  is  determined 
directly  by  its  measurable  relation  to  the  perpendicular. 
Both  find  their  application,  and  should  be  practiced  in 
instruction,  the  latter,  however,  at  a  higher  stage  of  de- 
velopment. 

Another  necessary  requisite  of  instruction  is  not 
only  that  the  form  should  be  represented  with  ease,  but 
also  that  the  representation  should  be  easily  erased. 
This  is  met  by  the  slate  and  slate-pencil.  This,  then, 
implies  as  the  first  requisite  in  this  instruction  a  slate 
niled  in  a  network  of  equal  squares. 

The  size  of  the  squares,  too,  as  will  appear  in  the 
course  of  instruction,  is  by  no  means  indifferent.  If 
the  distances  between  the  lines  are  too  small,  the  repre- 
sentations will  appear  trivial ;  if  the  distances  are  too 
great,  the  representations  will  be  too  large  for  the  pu- 
pil's power  of  simultaneous  survey ;  the  distance  of  one- 
fourth  inch  is  the  best. 

The  first  business  of  this  branch  of  instruction  is  to 
exercise  the  pupil  with  the  help  of  this  ruled  slate  in  the 
clear  representation   and,   consequently,  perception  of 


290  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

tlie  cliief  fundamental  relations  of  form  and  extent. 
The  course  of  instruction  itself  is  connected  with  former 
corporeal  perceptions ;  where  the  boy — as  was  show-- 
particularly  in  the  previous  paragraph — learned  to  dib- 
tinguish  different  lengths. 

Thus,  this  branch  of  instruction,  too,  as  will  be 
shown  in  the  course  of  instruction  to  be  sketched  di- 
rectly, is  connected  with  those  previously  considered : 
for,  as  has  been  said  before,  there  should  be  no  break 
anywhere  in  the  instruction,  nothing  should  stand  de- 
tached and  isolated ;  but,  like  life  itself,  all  things  to- 
gether, in  the  living  union  of  cause  and  effect,  should 
constitute  an  inwardly  connected  whole. 

The  course  of  instruction  is  as  follows : 
In  one  of  the  grooved  sides  of  one  of  the  squares 
the  teacher  draws  a  line  of  the  length  of  this  side  (one- 
fourth  inch),  and  says  as  he  draws  the  line  :  "  I  draw  a 
vertical  hne."  Then  he  asks  the  pupil:  "What  did 
I  do  ? "  The  pupil  answers :  "  You  have  drawn  a 
vertical  line."  "  Draw  now  a  row  of  such  vertical  lines 
across  the  slate."  When  this  has  been  done  to  the 
teacher's  satisfaction,  he  continues :  "  What  have  you 
done  ? "  "I  have  drawn  many  vertical  lines,"  the  pupil 
answers.  When  several  pupils  are  instructed  simul- 
taneously, the  teacher,  after  examining  the  work  of 
each,  may  ask  them  in  common :  "  What  have  you 
done?"     "We  have,"  etc. 

On  account  of  their  varied  usefulness,  these  questions 
and  answers  should  never  be  omitted  in  this  branch  of 
instruction ;  for  man  is  to  translate  the  representation 
into  word  and  thought,  and  interpret  word  and  thought 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  291 

in  the  representation — this  essentially  constitutes  his 
humanity. 

[Froebel  now  continues  similarly — drawing  and  ask- 
ing questions — with  lines  of  two,  three,  four,  and  five 
times  the  length  of  the  first,  and  then  goes  on :] 

By  drawing  the  lines  themselves  in  the  network,  the 
pupil  strengthens  and  liberates  his  hand,  as  well  as  his 
powers  of  perception  and  representation. 

Since,  for  the  purposes  of  perception  and  memory, 
the  Goiwparison  of  dissimilars  is  more  profitable  than 
that  of  similars,  vertical  lines  of  the  diflierent  lengths  are 
then  drawn  side  by  side  with  the  customary  comments 
and  exercises. 

The  instruction  does  not  here  pass  beyond  the  five- 
fold length,  because  with  the  number  ^-y^  all  subsequent 
numerical  differences  are  at  least  indicated.  In  fact, 
these  differences  are  indicated  already  in  the  numbers 
one,  two,  and  three,  inasmuch  as  these  contain  odd, 
even,  square,  and  cubic  numbers ;  and  nearly  all  these 
relations  are  repeated  in  the  series  one  to  ^yq^  and  thus 
become  sufiiciently  clear  for  the  purposes  of  representa- 
tion. Besides,  six  is  only  three  doubled  or  two  trebled, 
and  seven  in  this  respect  is  similar  to  five ;  so  that  these 
and  all  subsequent  exercises  do  not  go  beyond  five. 

In  these  comparative  arrangements  of  lines,  a  num- 
ber of  variations  may  be  made  to  suit  the  needs  particu- 
larly of  weaker  pupils.  Thus,  the  lines  may  have  their 
upper  or  lower  ends  lying  in  the  same  horizontal  line  ; 
in  either  case,  the  shortest  or  the  longest  line  may  be 
drawn  first  on  the  right  or  on  the  left.  Such  variations 
are  quite  useful,  particularly  where  it  is  desirable  to 
avoid  ennui   by  presenting  the  same  exercise  under 


292 


THE  EDUCATION   OF   MAN. 


different  forms;  yet  their  use  should  be  left  to  the 
teacher. 

{TroMslator' s  Synopsis. — In  a  similar  way  the  hori- 
zontal lines  are  worked  through.  Then  vertical  and 
horizontal  lines  are  combined  and  compared ;  for  this 
purpose  it  is  thought  best  to  have  the  two  kinds  of  lines 
meet  in  a  point.     These  combinations  may  be  made  in 

different  directions,  as  shown  in  these  figures :   | | 

I  |.  It  is  suggested  that,  in  order  to  facilitate  com- 
parison, the  longer  lines  should  always  include  the 
shorter  ones,  thus : 


r    n 


Subsequently,  the  vertical  and  horizontal  lines  differ 
in  length,  one  being  made  two,  three,  etc.,  times  the 
length  of  the  other ;  or  one  half,  one  third,  etc.,  of  the 
other.  Considerable  stress  is  laid  on  this  genetic  differ- 
ence :  when  the  shorter  line  is  drawn  first,  the  longer 
line  appears  as  a  multiple  of  the  shorter;  when  the 
longer  line  is  drawn  first,  the  shorter  appears  as  a  part 
of  the  longer. 

These  exercises  are  followed  by  the  drawing  of 
squares  and  oblongs.  In  the  latter,  the  distinction  be- 
tween "  long  "  and  "  high "  oblongs  is  emphasized ;  in 


THE    SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  293 

the  former,  the  horizontal  dimension  is  greater,  in  the 
latter,  the  vertical  dimension  is  greater. 

Then  follow  exercises  in  the  drawing  of  diagonals, 
the  chief  purpose  of  which  is  "  the  clear  perception  and 
accurate  representation  of  the  inclination."  In  the 
combinations,  a  number  of  characteristic  terms  help 
these  developments.  The  diagonal  of  a  square  has  the 
full  slant ;  that  of  an  oblong,  in  which  one  side  is  one 
haK  the  other,  has  the  half  slants  etc.  Slanting  lines 
that  are  nearer  the  horizontal  side  of  the  oblong  are  said 
to  be  falling  /  others  that  approach  more  the  vertical 
side  are  said  to  be  rising.  In  the  exercises,  he  begins 
with  lines  of  full  slant  drawn  outward  from  a  common 
center  in  all  directions,  then  inward  toward  a  common 
center;  then  follow  lines  of  half -slant,  etc.,  and  com- 
binations of  these,  exercises  with  the  falling  slant 
preceding  those  with  the  rising  slant.  At  first  the  out- 
lines of  the  corresponding  squares  and  oblongs  may  be 
drawn,  but  gradually  these  are  omitted.  Another  im- 
portant differentiation  lies  in  the  radiation  of  the  slant- 
ing lines  from  a  common  center,  and  their  symmetrical 
grouping  around  a  common  center,  which  is  the  center 
of  2^  figure  inclosed  by  the  slanting  lines.] 

At  this  point  we  reach  an  entirely  new  stage  of 
drawing,  which  indicates  at  the  same  time  a  new  stage 
of  development  in  the  pupil — the  stage  of  invention^  of 
the  spontaneous  representation  of  linear  wholes  with  the 
help  of  all  the  lines  lying  within  the  law  of  the  network. 

Invention  is  every  spontaneous  representation  of  the 
inner  in  and  by  the  outer,  adapting  itself  to  given  ex- 
ternal conditions,  yet  obeying  an  inner  necessity  easily 

recognized  by  the  pupil  himself. 
21 


294  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

The  presentation  of  a  course  of  study  for  the  inven- 
tion of  figures  is  reserved  for  the  next  scholastic  stage. 
Similarly,  the  presentation  of  the  variously  developing 
influence  of  this  instruction  on  true  human  culture  must 
be  reserved  for  the  latter  part  of  a  presentation  of  in- 
struction in  drawing  as  a  whole. 

Only  he  who  has  used  this  course  of  instruction,  not 
only  with  others  but  also  with  himself,  can  truly  appre- 
ciate its  nature  and  effect.  Indeed,  this  is  the  case  with 
every  kind  of  instruction  which  aims  deliberately  to 
awaken  energy  and  life  and  to  give  skill  and  dexterity 
of  representation. 

For  the  purposes  of  self -development  and  of  the 
development  of  others,  at  least  in  essentials,  these  indi- 
cations will,  however,  suffice,  especially  for  him  who 
follows  the  course  step  by  step,  applying  it  to  himself, 
and  who  thus  finds  within  himself  its  simple  law. 

The  use  of  this  instruction  would  supply  one  of  the 
greatest  wants  of  our  schools  in  town  and  country,  and 
should  be  introduced  in  them  all.  Every  intelligent 
person  who  looks  into  the  matter  will  clearly  see  this ; 
for  this  instruction  addresses  itself  equally  to  the  senses, 
and  through  them  to  the  power  of  thought,  and  to  ex- 
ternal manual  activity.  Thus,  it  avoids  ennui  and  lack 
of  occupation  so  pernicious  to  those  from  whom  the 
teacher's  attention  is  called  away  for  a  time.  So  much 
for  the  school ;  but  in  addition  to  this  it  teaches  the  eye 
a  knowledge  of  form  and  symmetry,  and  trains  the  hand 
in  representing  them ;  and  these  find  much  to  do  in  all 
relations  and  activities  of  practical  life.  Indeed,  we 
have  heard  of  late  many  impressive  complaints  concern- 
ing the  great  disadvantages  resulting  to  our  citizens, 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   THE   FAMILY.  295 

more  particularly  to  the  artisan  and  farmer,  from  the 
lack  of  development  in  the  perception  and  representa- 
tion of  form  and  symmetry. 

H.   STUDY  OF  colors;    COLORING  OF   OUTLINE-PICTURES;    PAINTING   IN 
THE    NET-WORK. 

§  96.  Every  one  who  is  not  a  total  stranger  to  boy- 
life  will  concede  that  children,  particularly  in  early  boy- 
hood, feel  the  need  of  a  knowledge  of  colors  and  of 
some  degree  of  occupation  with  pigments. 

This  must  be  so.  It  is  implied  even  in  the  general 
cause  of  all  activity  in  the  child,  in  the  tendency  to  de- 
velop and  exercise  all  his  powers  in  all  possible  particu- 
lar phases.  This  is  strengthened  by  a  second  reason, 
even  weightier,  so  far  as  the  inner  spiritual  develop- 
ment as  such  is  concerned — by  the  intimate  connection 
between  color  and  light,  by  the  fact  that  all  colors  are 
determined  by  greater  or  smaller  degrees  of  light. 

Color  and  light  again  are  most  intimately  connected 
with  life-activity,  with  all  that  lifts  and  varies  life. 
Even  mere  earthly  light  points  to  the  heavenly  light  to 
which  it  owes  its  being  and  existence. 

Thus,  the  boy  seems  to  notice  or  feel  the  high  sig- 
nificance of  color  (as  he  did  in  another  respect  of  form 
in  nature)  as  an  embodiment,  as  it  were,  of  earthly  light, 
of  sunlight,  as  a  visible  revelation  of  its  nature.  The 
hope  of  thus  obtaining  with  the  aid  of  the  colors  an 
insight  into  the  nature  of  earthly  light,  of  sunlight,  is 
possibly  the  true,  innermost,  though  sub-conscious, 
motive  of  the  boy  in  his  eager  occupation  with  colors ; 
indeed,  the  experience  of  boys  positively  corroborates 
this. 


296  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

It  is  said,  indeed,  that  colors  are  variegated,  and 
tliat  it  is  this  variegation  that  attracts  children  and  gives 
them  pleasure. 

Yer  J  well ;  but  what  is  variegation  of  color  ?  Is  it 
not  the  effect  of  one  cause  (light)  in  various  phases  of 
appearance  (colors)  ? 

It  is  by  no  means  external  variegation  that  attracts 
the  boy  and  gives  him  pleasure,  for  the  possession  of 
external  variegation  does  not  satisfy  him,  as,  indeed, 
mere  quantity  never  satisfies  him ;  the  pleasure  lies  in 
the  finding  of  the  inner  connection,  in  the  power  to 
spiritualize  it.  If  it  were  otherwise,  the  boy  would  be 
satisfied  when  he  is  surrounded  with  an  abundance,  and 
a  variety  of  things,  and  we  should  not  so  often  hear  the 
reproof  addressed  to  him  :  "  What  in  the  world  do  you 
still  want ;  you  have  this  and  this  and  this,  and  yet  you 
are  not  satisfied." 

The  boy  seeks  unity  of  life,  expression  of  life,  con- 
nection of  life — life,  indeed.  Therefore,  variegation  of 
color  interests  the  child ;  he  is  looking  for  unity  in 
diversity,  for  inner  connection.  For  this  reason  he 
likes  to  see  colors  in  their  combinations,  in  order  to  find 
the  inner  unity  that  makes  them  one. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  the  high  significance  of  this  ten- 
dency in  boyhood,  we  leave  its  development  toward  the 
knowledge  and  use  of  colors  to  merest  chance. 

We  give  the  boys,  among  many  other  things,  also, 
paints  and  brushes,  as  one  gives  food  to  beasts,  incon- 
siderately or  good-naturedly ;  and  they  throw  them 
about  like  their  other  playthings,  as  the  beasts  do  un- 
suitable food. 

What,  indeed,  should  they  do  with  them?     They 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  297 

do  not  know  how  to  give  them  life  and  unity ;  and  we 
do  not  help  them. 

However  distinct  and  different  form  and  color  may- 
be, to  the  young  boy  they  are  undivided,  united,  like 
the  body  and  its  life.  Indeed,  the  idea  of  color  seems 
to  come  to  the  boy,  as  it  did  possibly  to  mankind  gen- 
erally, through  form;  and,  conversely,  the  forms  are 
brought  out  and  nearer  through  colors.  Therefore,  the 
notions  of  color  and  form  should  at  first  be  united  and 
undivided. 

Now,  since  form  and  color  at  first  appear  to  the 
boy  as  an  undivided  whole — but  mutually  enhance  and 
reveal  each  other — it  is  necessary  in  the  development  of 
the  color-sense  in  man  by  means  of  observation  and 
representation  to  consider  three  things : 

1.  That  the  forms  should  be  simple  and  definite, 
wholly  adequate  to  the  things  to  be  designated  and  rep- 
resented. 

2.  That  the  colors  be  as  pure  and  distinct  as  possible, 
and  corresponding  with  those  of  the  object,  particularly 
if  it  be  a  natural  object. 

3.  That  the  colors  should  be  studied  as  nearly  as 
possible  in  their  actually  natural  relations,  in  their  differ- 
ences and  resemblances. 

As  the  colors  themselves  should  be  studied  as  defi- 
nitely as  possible  in  their  impressions,  they  should,  too, 
be  designated  with  equal  definiteness  in  language  :  first, 
the  color  as  such — e.  g.,  red,  green,  etc. ;  then  its  inten- 
sity— e.  g.,  dark,  bright,  etc. ;  then  the  variety  of  color  ac- 
cording to  kind  and  mixture.  In  the  last,  two  phases 
are  noticed :  first,  a  comparison  with  objects  that  show 
the  color  most  frequently — e.  g.,  rose-red  {rosenroth\ 


298  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

skj-blue,  etc. ;  secondly,  a  comparison  of  colors  among 
themselves — e.  g.,  green-yellow  (grun-gelh)^  or,  approxi- 
mately, greenish  yellow,  etc. 

Generally,  all  color  distinctions  should  be  based  on 
natural  objects  in  which  these  colors  prevail  most  con- 
stantly; if  they  have  been  understood,  they  may  be 
transferred  to  the  colors  of  other  objects. 

Colors,  whose  names  are  derived  from  objects,  should 
have  been  observed  frequently  in  the  objects  themselves 
— e.  g.,  violet-blue. 

In  the  beginning,  only  a  few  distinctions  are  made, 
but  these  should  be  adhered  to  strictly  and  constantly. 
Similarly  the  boy  should  receive  for  use  only  a  few, 
but  clearly  defined,  colors.  The  secondary  colors  should, 
later,  as  far  as  possible,  be  made  by  the  pupil  himself 
from  the  primary  colors. 

The  figures  to  be  painted  should,  particularly  in  the 
beginning,  not  be  too  small,  and  if  possible  point  to 
natural  objects,  as  indeed  all  instruction  should  start 
from  objects  in  the  pupil's  surroundings — e.  g.,  leaves, 
large  flowers,  wings  of  butterflies,  even  birds.  The 
colors  of  quadrupeds  and  of  fish  are  too  indefinite. 

However,  the  effort  to  represent  natural  objects  in 
their  peculiar  colors  will  direct  the  pupil's  attention 
more  and  more  to  their  actual  colors,  as  is  indicated  by 
questions  like  these :  "  How  shall  I  paint  the  trunk  of 
this  tree,  this  flower,"  etc.  ? 

The  more  the  notions  of  colors  are  separated  from 
objects,  the  more  it  will  become  desirable  to  represent 
the  colors  for  their  own  sake,  but  still  in  definite  forms. 

"When  colors  come  to  be  viewed  wholly  independent 
from  form,  form  steps  wholly  into  the  background.    The 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  299 

form  of  representation,  for  a  number  of  practical  rea- 
sons, is  based  on  the  square  network. 

The  coloring  material  is  best  chosen  from  the  vege- 
table pigments. 

The  instruction  itself  is  easily  connected  with  the 
boy's  life ;  a  hundred  opportunities  present  themselves ; 
every  circle  offers  its  own  peculiar  starting-points. 
Properly  conducted,  the  instruction  will  take  root  in  the 
children's  life,  and  will  itself  live. 

I  shall  write  down  what  I  saw  and  see.  The  more 
favorable  the  circumstances,  the  better  the  beginning ; 
however,  circumstances  may  not  be  made  but  only 
used. 

About  a  dozen  boys  of  suitable  age  are  gathered 
around  their  teacher  like  sheep  around  their  shepherd. 
As  the  shepherd  leads  his  sheep  to  green  pastures,  so 
the  teacher  is  to  lead  the  boys  to  joyous  activity.  It  is 
Wednesday  afternoon,  when  there  is  no  ordinary  school 
instruction  ;  but  to-day  there  is  no  call  for  other  activity. 
It  is  fall,  and  the  desire  to  paint  has  often  been  ex- 
pressed by  each  one  of  these  active  boys.  Perhaps  fall 
invites  the  boys  most  urgently  to  paint,  because  the 
colors  in  nature  are  most  varied  and  massive  in  the 
latter  part  of  fall ;  and  each  one  has  probably  tried  in 
his  own  way  to  obey  the  summons. 

"  Come,  let  us  paint,"  the  teacher  says.  "  It  is  true, 
you  have  painted  a  great  deal ;  but  painting  itself  and 
the  things  you  painted  did  not  seem  to  please  you  long, 
for  you  did  not  paint  in  distinct  and  pure  colors.  Come, 
let  us  see  if  we  can  not  do  better  together."  *'  Now, 
what  shall  we  paint?     What  is  easy  enough  for  us? 


300  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

For  we  are  to  leara,  and  what  we  paint  should  be 
simple,  and  of  one  color  if  pfossible." 

Teacher  and  pupils  decide  quickly  that  it  is  easiest 
to  paint  leaves,  flowers,  or  fruits.  Leaves  are  chosen ; 
for  the  beautiful,  bright  red,  yellow,  etc.,  trees,  and  the 
gorgeous  leaves  which  in  perfect  fall  days  float  with  a 
gentle  rustle  from  the  branches,  and  deck  the  ground 
with  a  brilliant  carpet,  have  been  keenly  noticed  by  the 
boys,  and  often  they  have  bound  them  in  wreaths  and 
brought  them  home. 

"  Here  are  outlines  of  leaves  "  (the  teacher  had  pre- 
pared them  for  the  purpose) ;  "  how  will  you  paint  them  ? " 
"Green."  "Eed."  "Yellow."  "Brown."  "Which 
leaves  will  you  paint  green,  red,  etc.  ? "     "  Why  ? " 

The  teacher  then  distributes  the  paints,  properly 
prepared.  First,  the  colors  are  correctly  designated. 
It  need,  however,  scarcely  be  mentioned  that — inasmuch 
as  the  representation  of  the  object  is  the  secondary,  and 
the  knowledge  and  treatment  of  the  colors  the  primary 
consideration — we  can  not  expect  to  do  more  than  to 
give  the  leaves  approximately  exact  coloring.  For  the 
present,  even  distribution  of  the  color,  keeping  within 
the  lines,  etc.,  are  as  yet  the  most  important  concerns ; 
the  proper  position  of  the  body,  in  order  to  insure  free 
movement  of  arm,  hand,  and  finger,  is  a  matter  to  be 
attended  to,  of  course. 

Inasmuch  as  each  pigment  requires  its  own  treat- 
ment, we  do  not  pass  from  one  color  to  the  next  until 
the  pupil  has  attained  some  proficiency  in  the  use  of 
the  former. 

From  leaves  we  proceed  to  flowers.  We  choose 
flowers  with  large  monopetalous  corollas  of  only  one  or 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.        301 

a  few  very  distinct  colors — e.  g.,  blue  campanulas,  yellow- 
primroses,  etc.  Simple  flowers  are  preferred  to  double 
ones,  and  they  are  flrst  painted  in  full  front  view  or 
full  profile. 

We  should  constantly  keep  in  view  conscious  efforts 
to  distinguish  colors  as  accurately  as  possible,  to  repre- 
sent them  in  the  greatest  possible  purity,  and  to  name 
them  as  clearly  as  possible;  although  at  this  stage  of 
development  these  things  will  still  be  done  quite  im- 
perfectly. The  pupil's  feelings  are  awakened,  and  he 
aspires  to  understand  the  relation  of  one  color  to  an- 
other. Thus  color  is  more  and  more  abstracted  from 
form,  and  may  be  observed  more  and  more  independ- 
ently. The  pupil,  too,  begins  to  take  more  interest  in 
each  color,  and  seeks  to  enter  fully  into  its  character ; 
for  he  wants  to  control  it,  and  feels  the  inadequacy  of 
his  present  knowledge  and  skill. 

This  calls  for  the  representation  of  colors  as  such, 
without  essential  reference  to  form,  in  figures  derived 
from  the  network. 

The  first  consideration  in  these  exercises  is  to  paint 
the  surfaces  evenly  and  sharply,  progressing  from 
smaller  to  larger  surfaces.  Therefore,  we  first  paint 
with  each  color  surfaces  of  one  square,  then  of  two  to 
five  squares,  either  continuous  (i.  e.,  in  rows  touching 
each  other  edge  to  edge)  or  interrupted  (i.  e.,  in  rows 
touching  each  other  comer  to  comer).  By  this  proced- 
ure, the  pupil  becomes  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
peculiarities  and  treatment  of  each  color. 

These  exercises  begin  with  pure  red,  blue,  and  yel- 
low ;  they  conclude  with  the  pure  secondary  colors,  pure 
green,  orange,  and  violet. 


302  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

The  series  begins  with  red  and  green,  because  experi- 
ence teaches  that  these  two  colors  are  most  interesting 
to  boys. 

Similarly,  in  the  subsequent  exercises,  two,  three, 
and  finally  all  the  six  colors  are  used  in  continuous  (edge 
to  edge)  or  interrupted  (corner  to  corner)  series — in  two 
principal  arrangements — so  that  either  the  long  sides  of 
the  colored  forms  or  their  short  sides  touch.  The  order 
of  the  colors  most  fully  in  accordance  with  nature  at 
large  is  now  from  blue  to  green,  yellow,  orange,  red, 
and  violet. 

The  last  phases  at  this  stage  of  development  are  four 
color-groups,  similar  to  the  two  line-groups  in  the  draw- 
ing of  lines.  These  are  derived  in  accordance  with  one 
law  from  the  thing  itself,  and  present  the  series  of 
colors  in  all  directions  implied  by  the  network  with 
reference  to  some  given  center. 

These  four  color-groups  appear  again  in  two  sets. 
Either  the  various  equal- colored  rectangles  touch  one  an- 
other at  their  long  sides,  appearing  in  horizontal  or  ver- 
tical position  sharply  defined,  or  the  various  colored 
series,  lying  in  the  direction  of  the  diagonals  of  the 
squares,  the  component  squares  touching  only  in  the 
corners,  fit  into  one  another  (like  the  teeth  of  two  saws). 

In  each  of  these  sets  there  are  two  members.  In 
one  of  these,  the  various  series  proceed  from  a  visible 
center ;  in  the  other,  they  are  arranged  around  an  invisi- 
ble center,  or,  rather,  inclose  it. 

These  four  groups  close  the  course  at  this  stage. 
The  next  stage  would  comprise — as  in  the  case  of  the 
invention  of  figures  in  drawing — the  free  invention  of 
color-groups,  the  study  of   colors  in    their  various  de- 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  303 

grees  of  intensity  and  tint,  and  the  study  and  repre- 
sentation of  natural  forms  in  the  square  network. 

However  limited  the  preceding  course  in  this  sub- 
ject, experience  proves  that  it  has  quite  an  influence  on 
the  scholar.  Like  song,  it  lifts  man  into  a  nobler  moral 
atmosphere,  quickens  the  color-sense,  and  enhances  in- 
terest in  nature  and  life.  Its  further  connection  with 
other  subjects,  as  well  as  with  practical  life,  will  be  clear 
to  him  who  appreciates  the  requisites  of  these  things. 

I.    PLAY,   OR  SPONTANEOUS   REPRESENTATIONS    AND   EXERCISES   OF  ALL 

KINDS. 

§  97.  To  the  many  things  said  about  play,  I  would 
add  the  following :  The  plays  or  spontaneous  occupa- 
tions of  this  period  of  boyhood  differ  in  three  ways. 
They  are  either  imitations  of  life  and  of  the  phenomena 
of  actual  life,  or  they  are  spontaneous  applications  of 
what  has  been  learned  at  school,  or  they  are  perfectly 
spontaneous  products  of  the  mind,  of  any  description, 
and  with  all  kinds  of  material.  The  last  either  seek 
the  laws  lying  in  the  material  of  the  play,  and  adapt 
themselves  to  these,  or  they  obey  laws  lying  in  the 
thought  and  feelings  of  the  human  being.  In  every 
case,  however,  the  normal  plays  of  this  period  are  the 
pure  outcome  of  vital  energy  and  buoyancy  (see  §  49). 

The  plays  of  this  period,  therefore,  imply  inner  life 
and  vigor — an  actual  external  life.  Where  this-  is  lack- 
ing, there  can  not  be  true  play  which,  itself  full  of 
genuine  life,  can  arouse,  feed,  and  elevate  life. 

This  explains  the  remark  of  a  young  man  who  had 
been  zealous  and  inventive  in  these  plays  of  boyhood. 


304:  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

He  said,  concerning  some  bojs  that  seemed  to  have  lost 
all  zest  for  such  plays :  "  It  is  strange  to  me  that  these 
boys  can  not  play ;  how  vigorously  we  played  at  this 
age ! " 

This  shows  clearly  that  even  the  plays  of  this  age 
should  be  under  special  guidance,  and  the  boy  made  tit 
for  them — i.  e.,  his  life  at  school  and  out  of  it  should  be 
rendered  so  rich  that,  like  a  swelling  bud,  it  will  burst 
forth  from  within  for  joy  and  in  joy.  Joy  is  the  soul 
of  every  activity  of  boyhood  at  this  period. 

The  plays  themselves  are  physical  plays,  either  as 
exercises  of  strength  and  dexterity,  or  a3  the  mere  ex- 
pressions of  buoyancy  of  spirits ;  sense  plays,  exercis- 
ing hearing,  sight,  etc. ;  or  intellectual  plays,  exercising 
reflection  and  judgment. 

[In  the  hands  of  thoughtful  kindergartners,  the  social  game  has 
become  a  powerful  aid  in  the  guidance  of  social  development.  The 
children  learn  to  use  the  several  games  as  it  were  like  common  play- 
things, with  the  help  of  which  they  may,  as  a  social  body,  give 
expression  to  their  collective  ideas  on  matters  of  social  concern. 

The  teacher,  for  this  purpose,  does  not  teach  the  game  in  a  cer- 
tain fixed  way,  using  the  children,  as  it  were,  to  carry  out  the  inten- 
tions of  the  game.  Indeed,  were  she  to  do  this,  each  child  would  in 
an  individual  way,  and  without  reference  to  others,  learn  to  play  the 
game  as  he  would  a  lesson,  and  then  lose  active  interest  in  it.  She 
plays  the  games  at  first  quite  simply,  sometimes  at  the  table,  some- 
times in  the  ring,  teaching  the  children  how  to  represent  the  simplest 
things  she  may  find  in  their  minds  concerning  the  subject  involved. 
Subsequently  she  progresses  quite  gradually,  adding  from  time  to 
time  new  facts  and  relations,  gained  by  observation  or  instruction, 
frequently  modifying  the  games  in  order  to  represent  the  various 
facts  from  new  standpoints  or  In  more  complex  relationships. 

This  will  induce  and  encourage  the  children  in  due  time  to 
bring  to  bear  in  their  plays  the  results  of  their  own  observations,  and 
to  suggest  modifications  and  additions  in  accordance  with  their 
growing  knowledge  and  interest.     Thus  the  game  will  grow  with 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.        305 

their  growth  in  social  insight  and  power,  and  will  become  an  ade- 
quate expression  of  their  inner  development  in  this  direction. — Tr.] 

J.   NARRATION  OF  STORIES  AND  LEGENDS,  FABLES  AND  FAIRY  TALES,  ETC. 

§  98.  Man  understands  other  things,  the  life  of 
others,  and  the  effects  of  other  powers  only  in  so  far  as 
he  understands  himself,  his  own  power,  and  his  own 
life.  Therefore,  the  highest  and  most  important  ex- 
periences of  a  boy  of  this  age  (as  well,  perhaps,  as  of 
man  generally)  are,  the  sensation  and  feeling  of  his 
own  life  in  his  own  breast,  his  own  thinking  and  will- 
ing, though  they  manifest  themselves  ever  so  vaguely 
and  almost  as  a  mere  instinct. 

But  knowledge  of  a  thing  can  never  be  attained  by 
comparing  it  with  itself.  Therefore,  too,  the  boy  can 
not  attain  any  knowledge  of  the  nature,  cause,  and 
effect  of  the  meaning  of  his  own  life,  by  comparing  his 
own  transient  individual  life  with  itself.  He  needs 
for  clearness  concerning  this,  comparison  with  some- 
thing else  and  with  some  one  else ;  and  surely  every- 
body knows  that  comparisons  with  somewhat  remote 
objects  are  more  effective  than  those  with  very  near 
objects. 

Only  the  study  of  the  life  of  others  can  furnish  such 
points  of  comparison  with  the  life  he  himself  has  ex- 
perienced. In  these  the  boy,  endowed  with  an  active 
life  of  his  own,  can  view  the  latter  as  in  a  mirror,  and 
learn  to  appreciate  its  value. 

It  is  the  innermost  desire  and  need  of  a  vigorous, 
genuine  boy  to  understand  his  own  life,  to  get  a  knowl- 
edge of  its  nature,  its  origin,  and  outcome.  If  he  fails 
in  this,  the  sensation  of  his  own  life  either  crushes  him 


306  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

or  carries  him  on  headlong,  without  purpose  and  irre- 
sistibly. 

This  is  the  chief  reason  why  boys  are  so  fond  of 
stories,  legends,  and  tales ;  the  more  so  when  these  are 
told  as  having  actually  occun-ed  at  some  time,  or  as 
lying  within  the  reach  of  probability  for  which,  how- 
ever, there  are  scarcely  any  limits  for  a  boy. 

The  power  that  has  scarcely  germinated  in  the  boy's 
mind  is  seen  by  him  in  the  legend  or  tale,  a  perfect 
plant  filled  with  the  most  delicious  blossoms  and  fruits. 
The  very  remoteness  of  the  comparison  with  his  own 
vague  hopes  expands  heart  and  soul,  strengthens  the 
mind,  unfolds  life  in  freedom  and  power. 

As  in  color,  it  is  not  variegated  hues  that  charm  the 
boy,  but  their  deeper,  invisible,  spiritual  meaning ;  so  he 
is  attracted  to  the  legend  and  fairy  tale,  not  by  the 
varied  and  gay  shapes  that  move  about  in  them,  but  by 
their  spiritual  life,  which  furnishes  him  with  a  measure 
for  his  own  life  and  spirit,  by  the  fact  that  tliey  furnish 
him  direct  intuitions  of  free  life,  of  a  force  sponta- 
neously active  in  accordance  with  its  own  law. 

The  story  concerns  other  men,  other  circumstances, 
other  times  and  places,  nay,  wholly  different  forms ;  yet 
the  hearer  seeks  his  own  image,  he  beholds  it,  and  no 
one  knows  that  he  sees  it. 

Are  there  not  many  persons  who  have  seen  and 
heard  how  children  at  an  earlier  period  asked  their 
mother  again  and  again  to  tell  them  the  simplest  story, 
which  they  had  heard  half  a  dozen  times — e.  g.,  the 
story  of  a  singing  and  fluttering  bird,  building  its  nest 
and  feeding  its  young? 

Even  boys  do  the  same.     "Tell  us  a  story,"  is  the 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  307 

request  of  a  crowd  of  eager  listeners  to  some  companion 
who  has  proved  his  art.  "  I  do  not  know  any  more ; 
I  have  told  you  all  I  know."  '^  Well,  then,  tell  us  this 
or  that  story."  "  I  have  told  it  two  or  three  times." 
"  That  makes  no  difl'erence;  tell  it  again."  He  obeys; 
see  how  eagerly  his  hearers  note  every  word,  as  if  they 
had  never  before  beard  it. 

It  is  not  the  desire  for  mental  indolence  that  leads 
the  vigorous  boy  to  the  telling  of  stories  and  makes  him 
a  pleased  listener.  You  can  see  how  eager  he  is,  bow  a 
genuine  story-teller  stirs  the  inner  life  of  his  hearer,  to 
try  its  strength,  as  it  were.  This  proves  that  a  higher 
spiritual  life  lies  in  the  story,  that  it  is  not  its  gay  and 
changing  shapes  that  attract  the  boy,  that  through  them 
mind  speaks  directly  to  mind. 

Therefore,  ear  and  heart  open  to  the  genuine  story- 
teller, as  the  blossoms  open  to  the  sun  of  spring  and  to 
the  vernal  rain.  Mind  breathes  mind ;  power  feels 
power  and  absorbs  it,  as  it  were.  The  telling  of  stories 
refreshes  the  mind  as  a  bath  refreshes  the  body ;  it  gives 
exercise  to  the  intellect  and  its  powers;  it  tests  the 
judgment  and  the  feelings. 

Hence,  too,  genuine,  effective  story-telling  is  not 
easy ;  for  the  story-teller  must  wholly  take  into  himself 
the  life  of  which  he  speaks,  must  let  it  live  and  operate 
in  himself  freely.  He  must  reproduce  it  whole  and  un- 
diminished, and  yet  stand  superior  to  life  as  it  actually  is. 

It  is  this  that  makes  the  genuine  story-teller. 
Therefore,  only  early  youth  and  old  age  furnish  good 
story-tellers.  The  mother  knows  how  to  tell  stories — she 
who  lives  only  in  and  with  the  child,  and  has  no  care 
beyond  that  of  fostering  his  life. 


308  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

The  husband  and  father,  fettered  bj  life,  compelled 
to  face  the  cares  and  wants  of  daily  life,  will  rarely  be  a 
good  story-teller,  pleasing  to  the  children,  influencing, 
strengthening,  and  lifting  their  lives. 

The  brother  or  sister,  only  a  few  years  older,  both 
still  unacquainted  with  life  in  its  stem  realities,  not  yet 
fettered  or  hardened  by  it,  still  standing  outside  of  it,  as 
it  were ;  the  grandfather,  with  his  wide  experience, 
raised  superior  to  life,  having  rid  himself  of  its  hard 
exterior ;  or  the  old  tried  servant,  whose  heart  is  full  of 
contentment  in  the  consciousness  of  duty  well  done — 
these  are  the  favorites  with  an  audience  of  boys. 

ITo  practical  application  need  be  added,  no  moral 
brought  out ;  the  related  incident  of  life,  in  itself,  in  what- 
ever form  it  may  appear,  in  its  causes  and  consequences, 
makes  a  deeper  impression  than  any  added  words  could 
do ;  for  who  can  know  the  needs  of  the  wholly  opened 
soul,  of  stimulated,  wholly  self-conscious  life. 

We  do  not  tell  our  children  enough  stories ;  at  best, 
little  stories  whose  heroes  are  mechanical  contrivances, 
puppets  which  we  have  whittled  or  stuffed  ourselves. 

A  good  story-teller  is  a  precious  boon.  Blessed  is 
the  circle  of  boys  that  can  enjoy  him ;  his  influence  is 
great  and  ennobling ;  the  more  so,  the  less  he  seems  to 
aim  at  this.  With  high  esteem  and  full  of  respect  I 
greet  a  genuine  story-teller;  with  intense  gratitude  I 
grasp  him  by  the  hand.  However,  better  greeting  than 
mine  is  his  lot ;  behold  the  joyful  faces,  the  sparkling 
eyes,  the  merry  shouts  that  welcome  him;  see  the 
blooming  circle  of  delighted  boys  crowd  around  him, 
like  a  wreath  of  fresh  flowers  and  branches  around  the 
bard  of  joy  and  delight. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  309 

However,  boys  of  this  age  are  benefited  by  mental 
activity,  especially  in  connection  with  physical  action. 
Therefore,  the  roused  and  stimulated  inner  life  should 
at  once  find  an  external  object  on  which  it  can  manifest 
and,  as  it  were,  perpetuate  itself. 

Therefore,  with  boys  of  this  age,  the  hearing  of 
stories  should  always  be  connected  with  some  activ- 
ity for  the  production  of  some  external  work  on  their 
part. 

Again  the  story,  in  order  to  be  especially  effective 
and  impressive,  should  be  connected  with  the  events 
and  occurrences  of  life.  One  of  the  least  significant 
occurrences  in  the  neighbor's  life  is  developed  to-day 
into  an  event  of  such  importance  that  it  determines  not 
only  his  inner  peace,  as  well  as  his  external  prosperity, 
but  influences  also  the  life  of  many  others. 

Whatever  similar  experience  lies  in  the  scope  of 
the  hfe  of  each  individual,  or  may  have  happened  to 
his  friends,  is  connected  with  this  event  of  the  day. 
Behold  how  the  attention  of  each  boy,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  inner  excitement,  is  wholly  given  to  the  event 
in  question.  Every  story  seems  to  him  a  new  conquest, 
a  fresh  treasure;  and  whatever  it  shows  and  teaches 
he  adds  to  his  own  life  for  his  advancement  and  in- 
struction. 

K.   SHORT   EXCURSIONS   AND   WALKS. 

§  99.  Out-door  life,  in  open  nature,  is  particularly 
desirable  for  young  people ;  it  develops,  strengthens, 
elevates,  and  ennobles.  It  imparts  life  and  a  higher 
significance  to  all  things.  For  this  reason,  short  excur- 
sions and  walks  are  excellent  educational  means,  to  be 
22 


310  THE   EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

highly  esteemed  even  in  the  beginning  of  boy-  and 
school-hfe  (see  §  64). 

If  man  is  fully  to  attain  his  destiny,  so  far  as  earthly 
development  will  permit  this,  if  he  is  to  become  truly 
an  unbroken  living  unit,  he  must  feel  and  know  him- 
self to  be  one,  not  only  with  God  and  humanity,  but 
also  with  nature. 

The  feeling  of  oneness,  in  order  to  become  a  unit 
in  himself,  must  be  developed  early  in  man.  He  must 
feel  the  connection  between  the  development  of  nature 
and  of  man,  between  the  phenomena  of  nature  and  of 
humanity  in  their  mutual  relations — e.  g.,  the  differ- 
ent impressions  made  on  the  same  human  being,  by 
external  natural  causes  and  by  internal  human  causes, 
so  that  man  may  appreciate  as  fully  as  possible  the 
character  and  phenomena  of  nature,  and  that  she 
may  ever  more  become  to  him  a  guide  to  higher  per- 
fection. 

All  shorter  and  longer  excursions  and  all  observa- 
tions they  involve  should  be  made  in  this  spirit  of  har- 
mony, unity,  and  living  oneness  of  all  natural  phe- 
nomena, and  in  the  conviction  how  necessarily,  because 
of  the  nature  of  life  and  force  as  such,  unity  comes 
from  multiplicity,  simplicity  from  complexity,  that 
which  in  its  impression  is  great  from  the  apparently 
small. 

Therefore,  all  boys  are  in  such  a  hurry  to  get  for- 
ward on  their  excursions ;  they  desire  quickly  to  take  in 
a  great  unit.  The  search  for  details  is  the  more  interest- 
ing the  more  fully  a  relatively  greater  unit  has  been 
previously  grasped,  though  this  need  by  no  means  be 
the  greatest  possible  whole. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.        311 

These  excursions  should  enable  the  boj  to  see  as  a 
whole  the  district  in  which  he  lives,  and  to  feel  that 
nature  herself  is  a  constant  whole. 

Without  this,  excursions  would  yield  no  direct 
spiritual  benefit.  They  would  repress  instead  of  quick- 
ening ;  they  would  waste  instead  of  enriching  life. 

Man  considers  the  surrounding  atmosphere  as  a  part 
of  himself,  and  gains  bodily  health  by  inhaling  the  pure 
air.  Similarly  he  should  look  upon  surrounding  nature 
as  a  part  of  himself,  and  breathe  in  the  Divine  Spirit 
that  dwells  therein. 

Therefore,  the  boy  should  early  see  the  objects  of 
nature  in  their  actual  relations  and  original  combina- 
tions. His  excursions  are  to  show  him  his  valley  in  its 
whole  extent ;  he  should  explore  its  ramifications ;  he 
should  follow  his  brook  or  rivulet  from  its  source  to  its 
mouth,  and  study  its  local  peculiarities  in  their  causes ; 
he  should  explore  the  elevated  ridges,  so  that  he  may 
see  the  ranges  and  spurs  of  the  mountains ;  he  should 
climb  the  highest  summits,  so  that  he  may  know  and 
understand  the  entire  region  in  its  unity. 

Actual  inspection  should  reveal  to  him  the  mutual 
relations  of  mountain  and  valley  and  river  in  their  form 
and  formation.  He  should  see  in  their  native  places 
the  products  of  mountain,  valley,  and  plain,  of  the  earth 
and  of  the  water ;  he  should  in  the  higher  regions  seek 
the  former  homes  of  the  stones  he  found  in  the  fields 
and  river-beds  of  the  lowlands. 

In  these  excursions  the  boys  should  see  the  animals 
and  plants  in  their  life,  as  it  were ;  they  should  ob- 
serve them  in  their  natural  abodes,  some  basking  in  the 
sun  and  drinking  in  light  and  warmth,  others  hiding  in 


312  THE  EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

darkness  and  shade,  seeking  coolness  and  moisture. 
They  should  seek  to  determine  to  what  extent  the 
abode  and  food  of  living  things  affect  their  color  and 
even  their  form ;  how,  for  instance,  the  caterpillar,  the 
butterfly,  and  other  insects,  in  form  and  color,  are  con- 
nected with  the  plants  to  which  they  seem  to  belong. 
He  should  not  fail  to  notice  how  this  external  resem- 
blance serves  to  protect  the  animals,  and  how  higher 
animals  almost  intentionally  make  use  of  such  resem- 
blances ;  how,  for  instance,  certain  birds  build  their  nests 
on  trees  whose  color  is  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from 
that  of  the  nests ;  how,  indeed,  the  color-expression  of 
animals  harmonizes  with  the  character  of  the  time  of 
day  when  they  are  most  active,  or  with  the  activity  of 
the  sun — e.  g.,  the  brilliant  colors  of  butterflies,  the  dull 
colors  of  moths,  etc. 

This  direct  and  independent  observation  of  the 
things  themselves,  and  of  their  actual  living  connection 
in  nature,  and  not  the  mere  explanation  of  words  and 
ideas  which  are  of  no  interest  to  the  boy,  should  awaken 
in  him,  vaguely  at  first  but  ever  more  and  more  clearly, 
the  great  thought  of  the  inner,  constant,  living  unity  of 
all  things  and  phenomena  in  nature. 

In  these  excursions  he  should  see  man,  too,  in  his 
unity  with  nature — first,  in  his  daily  Kfe,  his  occupations 
and  callings,  later  in  his  social  circumstances,  his  charac- 
ter, his  mode  of  thought  and  action,  his  manners,  cus- 
toms, and  language. 

However,  this  should  be  left  in  actual  life,  as  well  as 
in  our  hints  on  the  subject,  to  later  stages  of  develop- 
ment in  boyhood  and  youth. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  313 

In  considering  the  means  of  instruction,  directly  im- 
plied in  man's  tendency  of  development,  as  well  as  the 
method  of  instruction  thereby  conditioned,  we  were  con- 
fronted clearly  and  distinctly,  as  necessarily  proceeding 
from  the  observation  of  the  external  world  and  from 
language-exercises,  by  the  demands  for  the  study  of 
number,  of  forms  of  speaking  (grammatical  exercises), 
of  writing  and  of  reading;  we  found,  too,  indications  of 
the  points  from  which  these  particular  subjects  proceed 
naturally. 

Inasmuch  as  these  subjects  of  instruction,  according 
to  their  nature,  have  to  be  taken  up  later  than  those 
which  we  have  treated,  and  not  before  the  subjects 
on  which  they  depend  have  been  carried  to  a  certain 
point,  their  special  consideration  has  been  postponed,  so 
that  all  the  others  might  first  be  fully  presented. 

But  the  subjects  named  belong  to  the  second  half  of 
the  period  of  boyhood  under  consideration.  Therefore, 
their  special  treatment  must  now  be  taken  up. 

L.   ARITHMETIC. 

§  100.  The  development  of  number,  the  abstraction 
of  number  ideas  from  objects,  and  the  growth  of  skill 
in  counting,  at  least  up  to  ten  or  twenty — these  things 
have  been  clearly  presented  and  often  employed  in  the 
previous  considerations  (see  §§  38,  Y5). 

This  varied  use  of  number  soon  presents  to  the 
pupil  the  necessity  of  a  more  thorough,  more  compre- 
hensive and  varied  knowledge  of  number,  and  he  wel- 
comes arithmetic  as  a  special  subject  of  instruction  with 
pleasure  as  a  needed  help. 


314  THE   EDUCATION  OF  MAN. 

This  is  right,  l^o  new  subject  of  instruction  should 
be  brought  to  the  pupil  unless  he  at  least  feels  vaguely 
that  it  is  based  and  how  it  is  based  on  previous  work, 
how  it  is  applied  in  this,  and  that  it  satisfies  a  men- 
tal need. 

Number,  in  its  forms  of  multiplicity  and  size,  reveals 
to  the  first  glance  the  property  it  shares  with  many 
things,  particularly  with  things  of  nature,  the  property 
of  a  double  origin — from  without  by  accumulation,  and 
from  within  by  growth  or  development. 

But,  as  it  shares  with  objects  of  nature  their  mode  of 
origin,  so  it  shares  with  them  also  the  property  of  tran- 
siency, of  annihilation ;  and  this,  too,  shows  itself  in 
two  phases,  that  of  destruction  from  without,  and  that 
of  dissolution  from  within. 

Wherever  there  is  a  beginning  and  a  ceasing,  in- 
crease and  decrease,  there  is  also  comparison ;  and,  of 
course,  again,  a  merely  external  and  a  more  internal 
comparison,  a  comparison  according  to  an  externally 
visible  law,  and  another  according  to  an  internally  per- 
ceptible law. 

Thus  arithmetic  will  have  to  consider  the  increase, 
diminution  (annihilation),  and  comparison  of  numbers — 
each  according  to  an  outer  and  an  inner  law. 

The  intimate  connection  between  number  and  nature 
and  their  laws,  as  just  indicated,  is  so  prominent  in  our 
time,  which  is  entering  so  thoroughly  into  the  study  of 
nature,  that  a  natural  and  rational  study  and  treatment 
of  number  forced  men  even  fifteen  years  ago  to  accept 
the  terms  inorganic  and  organic  formation,  diminution 
and  comparison  of  numbers  {vide  Joseph  Schmid's 
"Number,"  1810). 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  315 

Arithmetic,  as  well  as  all  instruction,  should  meet 
not  only  the  feeling,  early  aroused  in  the  boyhood  of 
man,  that  natural  laws  prevail  in  many  ways  in  human 
life,  thought,  and  action,  but  also  the  feeling  that  there 
is  a  living  and  necessary  conformity  to  law  in  all 
things ;  therefore,  it  should  constantly  direct  the  atten- 
tion to  the  laws  of  number,  render  them  prominent,  and 
enable  the  pupil  to  see  them  clearly. 

The  prominence  and  the  vivid  and  varied  percep- 
tion of  numerical  laws  on  the  one  hand,  and  practice  in 
the ^  quick  comprehension  and  understanding  of  nu- 
merical relations  on  the  other,  are  both  equally  impor- 
tant and  should  receive  equal  attention.  The  pupil  at 
this  stage  should  not  only  be  quick  in  numbers,  but 
should  readily  see  and  understand  numerical  relations. 
Therefore,  it  is  most  desirable  in  this  as  in  all  similar 
instruction  to  secure  clear  comprehension  by  means  of 
self -active  representation  of  the  quantities ;  practice  and 
repeated  appKcation ;  surveys  of  the  whole  subject ;  the 
prominent  bringing  out  and  discussion  of  particular 
points. 

The  course  of  instruction  is  indicated  in  these 
words,  and  can  be  easily  prepared.  For  this  reason,  and 
because  Joseph  Schmid's  arithmetical  method  is  quite 
widely  known  and  followed,  I  limit  myself  to  only  a 
few  hints  in  the  following  : 

[^Translator's  Synopsis. — Froebel  first  (1)  bases  the 
work  on  previous  knowledge ;  for  this  purpose  he  sug- 
gests exercises  in  counting  forward  or  backward,  con- 
tinuously or  with  omissions  from  one  to  twenty.  He 
next  (2)  presents  the  numbers  from  one  to  ten  as  a  con- 


316  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

tinuous  whole.  The  pupils  count  from  one  to  ten, 
making  at  each  number  as  many  vertical  lines  as  the 
number  indicates,  in  vertical  arrangement,  thus : 

I 

II 

ill,  etc. 
This  is  followed  by  general  exercises,  fixing  the  re- 
lation between  the  word  and  the  number.  Pointing  to 
the  marks  they  have  made,  they  say,  starting  with  the 
word  or  numeral:  One  is  one  one,  two  is  two  ones, 
three  is  three  ones,  etc.  Starting  next  with  the  number, 
they  say :  One  one  is  one,  two  ones  are  two,  three  ones 
are  three,  etc.  Considering,  at  last,  the  number  ab- 
stractly, they  say :  One  is  one,  two  is  two,  three  is 
three,  etc. 

In  the  third  place  (3)  are  exercises  distinguishing  the 
odd  and  even  numbers.  Reading  through  the  column,  all 
say :  One  is  neither  odd  nor  even ;  two  is  an  even  num- 
ber ;  three  is  an  odd  number,  etc.  Froebel  adds  here 
by  wav  of  parenthesis :  "  It  is  well  to  direct  the  pupil's 
attention  here  at  once  to  a  great  far-reaching  law  of 
nature  and  of  thought.  It  is  this,  that  between  two 
relatively  diiferent  things  or  ideas  there  stands  always 
a  third,  in  a  sort  of  balance,  seeming  to  unite  the 
two.  Thus,  there  is  here  between  odd  and  even  num- 
bers one  number  (one)  which  is  neither  of  the  two. 
Similarly,  in  form,  the  right  angle  stands  between  the 
acute  and  obtuse  angles  ;  and  in  language,  the  semi- 
vowels or  aspirants  between  the  mutes  and  vowels. 
A  thoughtful  teacher  and  a  pupil  taught  to  think 
for  himself  can  scarcely  help  noticing  this  and  other 
important  laws." 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  317 

He  then  has  the  pupils  to  represent  with  lines  all 
the  even  numbers  from  two  to  ten,  again  in  vertical  ar- 
rangement, and  has  this  learned  as  the  natural  order  of 
even  numbers  in  ten.  The  same  is  done  with  the  odd 
numbers.  As  soon  as  some  pupils  have  represented  the 
series  on  their  slates,  the  teacher  represents  it  on  the 
blackboard,  and  fixes  it  by  pointing  to  certain  numbers, 
and  having  the  children  designate  their  places  in  the 
series,  etc. 

This  is  followed  (4)  by  exercises  in  addition.  In  the 
first  exercise,  the  pupils  add  I  to  each  number  of  the 
first  ten  (I  and  I  are  II),  by  which  they  obtain  the  series 
from  two  to  eleven ;  in  the  second  exercise,  they  add  I  to 
each  even  number  in  the  first  ten,  obtaining  a  series  of 
odd  numbers ;  in  the  third  exercise  I  is  added  to  each 
odd  number.  Then  follow  similar  exercises  with  the 
addition  of  II,  111,  etc.,  and  an  exercise  in  which  to 
each  number  is  added  the  succeeding  number  in  the 
series,  yielding  a  table  in  vertical  arrangement :  I  and 
II  are  III,  II  and  IN  are  Mill,  etc.,  up  to  nineteen. 

Then  follow  exercises  in  the  addition  of  three  and 
more  numbers,  proceeding  in  every  case  deliberately  and 
thoroughly,  and  not  exceeding  thirty  in  the  sums ;  and 
at  last  the  consideration  of  special  questions,  such  as : 
What  is  the  sum  of  all  numbers  from  1  to  10  ?  What 
is  the  sum  of  all  even  numbers  between  1  and  10? 
What  is  the  sum  of  the  first  and  last  numbers  in  the 
series  1  to  10  ?     Of  the  second  and  last  but  one  ?  etc. 

In  the  fifth  place  (5),  he  presents  exercises  for  the 
study  of  compound  numbers.  The  pupils  are  taught  to 
look  upon  each  number  of  the  series  1  to  10  as  a  unit,  a 
whole.    Teacher  and  pupils  read  their  table  :  One  (I)  is  a 


818  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

simple  unit,  two  (II)  is  a  compound  unit,  etc.  Tliej 
represent  a  number  of  twos,  threes,  etc.,  on  the  slate. 
They  make  a  series  of  all  the  twos  from  one  tw^o  [1  (2)  ] 
to  ten  twos  [10  (2)  ],  and  read  this  in  a  variety  of 
ways — e.  g.,  one  two  (II)  is  neither  an  odd  nor  an  even 
number  of  twos;  two  twos  (II  II)  is  an  even  num- 
ber of  twos ;  three  twos  (II  II  II)  is  an  odd  number  of 
twos,  etc. 

Then  follow  (6)  exercises  to  represent  numbers  in 
all  possible  forms — e.  g. :  Two  as  two  ones  (I  I)  or  as  one 
two  (II);  three  as  one  three  QW),  one  two  and  one  one 
(II  I),  three  ones  (I  I  I),  etc.  Froebel  lays  stress  upon 
the  foreshadowing  of  an  important  law,  which  is,  how- 
ever, merely  to  guide  the  teacher  at  this  stage  of  the 
work,  and  whose  development  with  the  pupils  is  left  to 
a  subsequent  stage.  He  formulates  this  law  as  follows : 
"  Every  number  always  gives  twice  as  many  combina- 
tions (including  those  differing  merely  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  component  numbers)  as  its  predecessor  in  the 
series;  or,  the  number  of  combinations  of  the  com- 
ponent parts  of  any  number  is  obtained  if  two  (2)  is 
raised  to  the  power  indicated  by  the  number  in  ques- 
tion less  one — e.  g. :  4  yields  2*~^  or  2^  =  8  combina- 
tions." 

Subtraction  (7),  or  the  diminution  of  the  number 
from  without,  is  carried  on  similarly. 

For  multiplication  (8),  or  the  development  of  the 
number  from  within,  Froebel  starts  again  with  the 
series  of  numbers  from  1  to  10.  The  pupil  is  then  re- 
quired to  take  each  number  once,  or  "  as  often  as  one 
has  units,"  obtaining  a  vertical  arrangement  like  the 
following : 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  319 

1,1,1 
II      ,      I      ,      II 

III     ,     I     ,     III  etc. 

This  is  read  in  a  variety  of  ways,  as  :  1 1  taken  as 
often  as  I  has  units  gives  II;  or,  II  repeated  in  the  law 
of  I  gives  II;  or,  two  increased  by  the  law  of  I  gives  1 1 ; 
or,  1 1  taken  I  time  (once)  gives  II;  or,  II  I  time  (once) 
gives  II ;  or,  II  times  I  is  II.  In  this  way,  a  variety  of 
multiplication  tables  are  made  and  read,  and  a  number 
of  arithmetical  laws  developed. 

Similarly  (9),  the  squares  of  the  numbers  and  their 
roots  are  found  and  fixed ;  then  (10)  all  possible  com- 
binations in  which  a  number  may  be  obtained  through 
multiplication  are  studied — 10  is  10  (1),  1  (10),  2  (5), 
5  (2) ;  this  is  followed  by  division  (11)  and  measure- 
ment, and  the  comparison  of  numbers  (12  and  13)  in 
accordance  with  their  outer  and  inner  law.] 

M.   FORM-LESSONS   (GEOMETRY). 

§101.  As  formerly  indicated,  the  observation  of 
the  outer  world  and  language-exercises  already  led  to 
the  consideration  and  study  of  form.  Yet  the  objects 
of  the  outer  world  usually  exhibit  form  in  such  variety 
and  complication,  and  their  forms  are  so  difficult  to 
analyze  and  define,  that  the  study  of  form  itself  always 
leads  to  the  consideration  of  objects  with  simple  forms, 
to  objects  bounded  by  simple  planes  with  equal  and 
right  angles. 

A  knowledge  of  any  form  always  implies  ultimately 
a  knowledge  of  lines,  and  forms  are  examined  and 
detennined  through  the  mediation  of  straight  lines. 
Therefore,  in  the  study  of  objects  with  reference  to 


320  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAX. 

their  form,  curvilinear  objects  are  soon  laid  aside,  and 
rectilinear  objects  at  first  chosen — e.  g.,  curved  are  the 
surface  of  a  cylindrical  stove,  a  watch-glass,  the  rim  of 
an  inkstand;  plane  and  straight  are  the  jambs  of  the 
doors  and  windows,  the  window-sash,  the  frame  of  the 
looking-glass. 

Again,  objects  as  well  as  their  parts  and  outlines 
are  considered  with  reference  to  their  position  and 
direction — e.  g.,  the  two  long  and  the  two  short  pieces 
of  the  window-frame  are  respectively  jparallel  /  a  long 
and  a  short  piece  of  the  window-frame  are  respectively 
^perjpendicular,  etc. 

[^Translator'' s  Synopsis, — Similar  material  for  study 
is  afforded  by  the  table-legs  and  other  parts  of  the  table, 
the  sides,  floor,  and  ceiling  of  the  room,  etc.  The  con- 
sideration of  these  complex  rectilinear  objects  is  fol- 
lowed by  the  consideration  of  simple  rectilinear  objects 
— cubes,  prisms,  pyramids,  etc.  When,  through  these 
exercises,  linear  outlines  have  been  made  clear,  the  pupil 
feels  the  need  of  studying  the  linear  relations  as  such. 
This  study  begins  with  the  consideration  of  single  lines 
with  reference  to  their  relative  directions ;  it  then  pro- 
ceeds to  combinations  of  lines  as  to  number  of  points  in 
which  they  meet,  and  to  their  direction  with  reference 
to  the  points  of  union.  This  is  followed  successively 
by  the  study  of  angles,  of  polygons,  and  at  last  of  the 
circle.  For  lack  of  room  and  of  cuts,  Froebel  does  not 
present  the  details  of  the  course,  but  promises  to  do  so 
in  the  discussion  of  a  later  stage  of  development,  a 
promise  that  was  never  realized.  He  insists,  however, 
that  at  the  present  stage  attention  is  to  be  given  to  fre- 
quent representation  of  figures,  and  the  actual  examina- 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  321 

tion  of  forms,  rather  than  to  the  formulation  of  general 
truths;  that  complicated  relations  and  complex  infer- 
ences should  be  avoided  ;  and  that  each  form-relation 
should  be  studied  independently,  but  in  as  many  figures 
as  possible,  and  in  quite  simple  and  familiar  combina- 
tions. In  conclusion,  he  points  to  the  fact  that  the 
study  of  lines  of  equal  inclination  leads  from  form  to 
free-hand  drawing.] 

N.   GRAMMATICAL    EXERCISES. 

§  102.  We  turn  now  again  to  a  wholly  different 
side  of  instruction.  The  subject  of  form-instruction  is 
visible,  permanent ;  the  subject  of  language  is  audible, 
transient.  Thus  the  two  objects  are  direct  opposites, 
complementing  each  other,  and  therefore  belong  to- 
gether. The  form  represents  the  object ;  language, 
too,  tends  to  represent  and  picture  the  object. 

It  was  the  purpose  of  the  language-exercises  to  se- 
cure correct  and  clear  ideas  of  the  things  of  the  outer 
world,  and  to  have  them  represented  precisely  and 
definitely  by  language.  The  grammatical  exercises  are 
concerned  with  language  as  material  of  representation, 
with  exercises  leading  to  the  knowledge  and  correct  use 
of  this  audible  material,  and  with  the  study  and  practice 
of  the  manner  in  which  man  with  the  aid  of  his  organs 
of  speech  seems  to  create  and  fonn  this  material. 

Therefore,  grammatical  exercises  consider  the  word 
as  such  irrespective  of  the  thing  it  designates ;  their 
purpose  is  to  give  the  pupil  a  knowledge  of  language 
considered  as  material. 

This  leads  necessarily  to  the  formerly  indicated  con- 
nection of  language,  particularly  of  the  original  word 


322  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

and  its  parts  with  the  objects  and  their  qualities,  to  the 
study  of  the  contrasts  and  resemblances  between  lan- 
guage and  object :  it  leads  to  etymology  as  a  new  sub- 
ject of  instruction. 

{Translator'' 8  Synopsis. — Froebel  here  maps  out  the 
following  succession  of  points  for  the  course  of  study. 
The  first  consideration  is  the  size  of  the  word,  which  is 
determined  by  the  number  of  its  syllables  /  this  is  fol- 
lowed by  the  consideration  of  vowels,  which  form  the 
constant  element  of  syllables.  The  vowels  are  simple 
or  complex,  and  the  former  again  are  primitive  or  de- 
rivative. This  leads  to  the  observation  of  the  use  of  the 
organs  of  speech  in  producing  the  various  vowel-sounds, 
and  shows  that  the  purity  and  distinctness  of  the  sound 
depend  on  the  proper  position  and  shape  of  the  cavity 
of  the  mouth,  etc.  Then  follows  the  study  of  the  eon^ 
sonants,  which  are  first  classed  as  mutes  and  sonants  ; 
and  then  grouped  as  nasals,  labials,  Unguals,  dentals, 
palatals,  gutturals,  etc.  Lastly,  the  different  degrees  of 
intensity  of  force  required  in  the  production  of  the 
various  consonants  are  noted.  Thus  the  pupil  gradually 
finds  that  clear  pronunciation  and  speech  imply  the 
proper  use  of  the  organs  of  speech,  and  gains  conscious 
control  of  these.]  There  is,  too,  developed  in  him  the 
feeling  of  an  inner  living  connection  that  unites  the 
activities  of  the  mind,  of  the  body,  and  of  nature,  for 
language  as  a  mental  product  through  the  activity  of  the 
body  furnishes  him  satisfactory  representations  of  his 
inner  and  outer  worlds. 

[Translator'* s  Synopsis. — The  next  section  of  this 
paragraph  contains  a  few  suggestions  for  carrying  out 


THE   SCHOOL  AND   THE  FAMILY.  323 

this  course.  Teacher  and  pupil  first  speak  words  of  one, 
then  of  two  syllables,  etc.,  slowly,  deliberately  separat- 
ing the  syllables,  accompanying  each  syllable  with  a 
clap  of  the  hands,  and  then  following  up  the  pronuncia- 
tion of  each  word  with  the  number  of  claps  of  the  hand 
indicated  by  the  number  of  syllables — e.  g. : 

Teacher  or  (  says :    foot  .  .  .  one  )    ^  j  win-dow  .  .  .  one,  two  )  ^^^ 
pupil      (  claps:  (_)...(-))       ]  ( )  .  .  .  (-)   (-)  f 

Froebel  attaches  importance  to  the  clapping  wdth  the 
hands,  which  makes  the  audible  separation  of  the  word 
visible  in  the  clapping  on  the  teacher's  part,  and  sensible 
in  the  clapping  on  the  pupil's  part. 

In  order  to  direct  the  pupil's  attention  to  the  vowels, 
Froebel  would  have  the  teacher  and  pupil  pronounce 
successively  and  together  monosyllabic  words  ending  in 
vowel-sounds,  and  after  each  word  speak  the  vowel- 
sound  separately — e.  g. :  me  —  e,  he  —  e,  etc.  Then 
words  are  found  that  begin  with  this  sound  (eel,  each, 
east,  etc.) ;  then  words  that  contain  the  vowels  (bead, 
read,  etc.).  Subsequently  the  fact  is  brought  ont  that 
there  are  no  monosyllabic  words  that  do  not  contain 
some  vowel ;  polysyllabic  words  are  similarly  examined ; 
the  prevalence  of  certain  vowels  in  certain  syllables  is 
found ;  the  succession  of  certain  vowels  in  the  same 
word  is  observed ;  the  sonants  and  mutes  are  similarly 
studied,  etc.  Finally,  tables  of  the  various  classes  and 
groups  of  sounds  are  prepared,  and  a  number  of  exer- 
cises are  made  giving  ready  control  of  these  tables  in 
the  formation  of  words. 

The  next  requirement  that  forces  itself  upon  our 
attention  in  this  instruction  is  the  art  of  writing,  by 


324  THE  EDUCATION  OF   MAN. 

which  the  "audible   and  transient  sounds   are  made 
visible  and  permanent."] 

O.   WRITING. 

§  103.  [Translator's  Synopsis.  —  By  this  Froebel 
does  not  mean  penmanship  as  an  art,  but  merely  the 
skill  to  write  legibly.  For  the  beginning  he  suggests  as 
most  suitable  the  capital  Roman  letters,  because  their 
forms  please  children,  and  because  they  can  be  readily 
made  with  the  help  of  the  horizontal,  vertical,  and  slant- 
ing lines  with  which  the  child  is  already  familiar. 

In  the  course  of  instruction  he  begins  with  the  letter 
I  (sounded  E  in  German),  carefully  analyzing  its  form 
and  lines ;  then  follow  JS",  M,  E,  U,  O,  A,  etc.  The  intro- 
duction of  each  new  letter  is  followed  by  the  writing  of 
as  many  combinations  with  previous  letters  as  will  yield 
true  words.  "  The  most  important  point  is  that  at  every 
step  the  pupil  should  apply  the  newly  learned  letter  and 
combine  it  with  formerly  learned  letters  in  as  many 
ways  as  possible." 

From  monosyllables  he  proceeds  to  polysyllables ; 
then  the  children  are  taught  to  write  words  and  short 
sentences  by  dictation  or  otherwise.  At  this  point  he 
recommends  that  all  that  has  been  written  on  the  slate 
should  subsequently  be  copied  on  paper.  This  enables 
the  teacher  to  correct  the  work;  to  let  pupils  whose 
work  has  been  corrected  correct  that  of  others;  and 
leads  to  considerations  of  orthography.  He  concludes 
the  paragraph  in  the  following  words  : 

When  the  pupil  has  reached  the  skill  to  represent  in 
this  way  all  the  notions  and  ideas  he  possesses,  and  thus 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  FAMILY.  325 

to  represent  his  inner  life,  as  it  were,  the  purpose  of 
this  branch  of  instruction  is  accomplished ;  for  the  cen- 
ter, the  universal  fulcrum,  the  human  being  has  been 
found,  and  the  possibility  of  the  representation  of  his 
innermost  soul  at  this  period  of  development  has  been 
secured,  as  by  means  of  lines  in  drawing,  by  means  of 
colors  in  painting,  by  means  of  plastic  material  in  model- 
ing, so  here  by  means  of  words — transient  in  speech 
and  permanent  in  writing.  Thus,  every  stage  of  in- 
struction should  in  a  certain  sense  form  a  complete 
whole,  a  complete  representation  of  the  human  mind  ; 
it  should  render  possible  the  representation  of  some 
complete  (external)  whole  with  reference  to  man  and  in 
its  relation  to  his  mind. 

The  fact  that  the  pupil  is  required  to  copy  on  paper 
the  corrected  representation  of  his  own  thoughts  or  ob- 
servations printed  by  him  on  his  slate  soon  leads  him  to 
see  the  use  and  feel  the  need  of  a  more  rapid  mode  of 
writing.  At  this  point,  the  writing  in  script  appears  as 
the  new  subject  of  instruction,  meeting  a  want  which 
the  pupil  himself  feels.  It  is  the  business  of  every 
form  of  instruction  in  its  respective  stage  to  arouse  in 
the  pupil  a  keen  and  definite  feeling  of  the  need  of  the 
next  stage.  The  business  of  instruction  in  this  suc- 
ceeding stage  is  then  to  meet  this  need  as  promptly  and 
as  fully  as  possible  according  to  the  requirements  of 
sound  mental  development. 

In  these  two  simple  and  important  points,  current 
methods  of  instruction  are  still  quite  deficient,  as  well 
as  in  other  matters  indicated  in  what  has  been  said. 
It  is  the  business  of  pedagogics  to  reveal  these  de- 
fi.ciencies  beyond  all  doubt,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
23 


326  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

indicate   a   course   of   instruction   which   avoids   these 
faults  and  shows  a  better  way. 

p.   READING. 

§  104.  {Translator's  Synopsis. — Eeading  is  the  con- 
verse of  writing.  They  are  opposites,  like  giving  and 
taking ;  and  as  taking  implies  giving,  as,  strictly  speak- 
ing, one  neither  should  nor  can  truly  take  who  has  not 
before  given,  so  also  in  this  case  reading  should  follow 
writing.  The  course  of  instruction  is  implied  in  the 
nature  of  things.  In  fact,  the  boy  can  already  read ; 
the  writing  of  every  word  was  followed  by  its  reading, 
and  in  the  copying  exercises  this  was  specially  practiced ; 
so  that  reading  in  the  ordinary  sense  now  becomes  quite 
easy,  and  the  task  of  a  year  may  be  accomplished  in  a 
few  days. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  show  the  equivalence 
of  the  small  Eoman  letters  to  the  capital  letters  hereto- 
fore employed ;  and  to  do  this  in  such  a  way  that  the 
resemblances  between  the  two  kinds  of  letters  may  be 
seen  even  in  their  details.  As  a  connecting  exercise, 
Froebel  recommends  that  the  pupil  copy  passages  from 
the  reader  in  his  usual  capital  letters,  thus  comparing 
the  two  styles  of  letters. 

The  point  to  be  reached  at  this  stage  is  correct  read- 
ing in  pronunciation  and  punctuation,  so  that  he  may 
be  able  to  understand  the  writing  of  others,  and  test  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  of  others  by  what  he  himself  has 
thought  and  felt.  Higher,  more  expressive  reading  is 
relegated  to  the  next  stage  of  development.] 


YII. 

CONCLUSION. 

§  105.  Thus  we  have  sketched  the  growth  and  de- 
velopment of  man  in  all  their  phases  and  conditions 
from  the  first  origin  of  his  being  and  existence  to  the 
first  years  of  boyhood.  We  have,  too,  surveyed  in  a 
general  way  in  their  living  inner  connection,  their 
necessary  mutual  dependence  and  natural  ramifications, 
the  important  means  by  which  man  may  be  and  should 
be  developed  in  this  period  in  accordance  with  the  re- 
quirements of  this  period  and  of  his  being,  if  his  goal 
is  perfection. 

If  we  now  survey  all  that  has  been  determined  and 
said  so  far  in  this  connection,  we  see  that  many  phases 
in  the  life  of  boyhood  have  as  yet  no  specific,  definite 
direction.  Thus,  the  work  with  colors  does  not  in  any 
way  mean  to  develop  a  future  painter,  neither  is  the 
work  in  singing  intended  to  train  a  future  musician. 
These  occupations  simply  have  the  purpose  to  secure  in 
the  young  human  being  all-sided  development  and  un- 
folding of  his  nature ;  they  furnish  in  a  general  way 
the  food  so  necessary  for  mental  growth ;  they  are  the 
ether  in  which  his  spirit  breathes  and  lives  in  order  to 
gain  strength  and  scope,  inasmuch  as  the  mental  tend- 


328  THE   EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

encies  wliich  God  lias  given  him,  and  whicli  irresistibly 
unfold  from  his  mind  in  all  directions,  will  necessarily 
appear  in  great  variety,  and  must  be  met  and  fostered 
in  a  corresponding  variety  of  ways. 

Therefore,  we  ought  at  last  to  understand  that  we 
do  great  violence  to  boy-nature  when  we  repress  and 
supplant  these  normal  many-sided  mental  tendencies  in 
the  growing  human  being ;  when,  in  the  belief  of  do- 
ing a  service  to  God  and  man,  and  of  promoting  the 
future  earthly  prosperity,  inner  peace,  and  heavenly 
salvation  of  the  boy,  we  cut  off  one  or  the  other  of 
these  tendencies  and  graft  others  in  their  places. 

God  neither  ingrafts  nor  inoculates.  He  develops 
the  most  trivial  and  imperfect  things  in  continuously 
ascending  series  and  in  accordance  with  eternal  self- 
grounded  and  self-developing  laws.  And  God-likeness 
is  and  ought  to  be  man's  highest  aim  in  thought  and 
deed,  especially  when  he  stands  in  the  fatherly  relation 
to  his  children,  as  God  does  to  man. 

We  should  consider,  at  least  with  reference  to  the 
education  of  our  children,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
the  realm  of  the  spiritual,  and  that  consequently  the 
spiritual  in  man,  and  therefore  in  our  children,  is  at 
least  a  part  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  For  this  reason 
we  should  give  our  attention  to  the  universal  cultivation 
of  the  spiritual  in  our  children,  to  the  pure  cultivation 
of  the  specifically  human,  which  is  the  divine  in  indi- 
vidual manifestation ;  for  we  may  well  be  convinced 
that  whoever  has  been  cultivated  to  genuine  humanity 
is  also  educated  for  every  particular  requirement  and 
need  in  civil  and  social  life. 

Many  will  say :  "  This  is  all  very  well  for  earlier 


CONCLUSION.  329 

periods,  but  our  sons  are  too  old  for  this — they  are 
already  in  the  last  quarter  of  boyhood.  What  can  they 
do  with  this  general  and  rudimentary  instruction? 
They  need  something  definite,  something  that  bears 
directly  on  their  future  vocation ;  for  the  time  is  near 
when  they  will  enter  practical  life,  when  they  will  have 
to  earn  their  own  living  or  help  us  in  our  business." 

It  is  true,  our  sons  are  rather  old  for  what  they  are 
still  to  learn.  But  why  did  we  not,  when  they  were 
children  and  in  early  boyhood,  supply  the  needs  of 
their  minds  ?  Are  the  boys  now  to  lose  this  develop- 
ment and  cultivation  for  their  whole  lives? 

We  may  console  ourselves  with  the  illusion  that 
when  our  boys  have  reached  adult  life  they  will  have 
enough  leisure  to  make  up  their  losses. 

Fools  that  we  are !  Our  own  soul  refutes  this,  if 
we  will  but  listen  to  what  it  says  and  study  its  meaning. 
Here  and  there  a  few  things  may  indeed  be  retrieved ; 
but,  in  general,  whatever  of  human  education  and  devel- 
opment has  been  neglected  in  boyhood  will  never  be 
retrieved. 

Shall  we,  men  and  fathers,  and  perhaps  mothers,  too, 
not  at  last  be  frank,  and  cease  to  conceal  from  ourselves 
the  never-healing  wounds  and  the  permanently  callous 
places  in  our  disposition,  the  dark  spots  left  in  our  souls 
by  the  ruthless  extirpation  of  noble  and  elevating 
thoughts  and  feelings  in  the  days  of  our  misguided 
youth  and  boyhood  ?  Shall  we  never  see  that  noble 
germs  were  at  that  time  broken  and  withered,  nay, 
killed  in  our  souls  ?  And  shall  we  not  heed  this  for  our 
children's  sake  ? 

We  may  fill  an  important  office,  we  may  have  an 


330  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

extensive  professional  practice,  we  may  have  a  lucrative 
business,  we  may  be  expert  and  energetic,  we  may  pos- 
sess a  higb  degree  of  social  refinement ;  but  can  all  this 
keep  us,  when  we  are  alone,  from  seeing  the  flaws  and 
faults  of  our  inner  culture  ?  Can  it  destroy  in  us  the 
feeling  of  incompleteness  and  imperfection  chiefly  due 
to  our  early  education  ? 

Therefore,  even  though  our  sons  have  reached  the 
third  or  fourth  stage  of  boyhood,  if  we  would  have 
them  become  competent,  full  men,  and  if  they  have  not 
yet  learned  and  unfolded  what  their  age  implies,  they 
must  necessarily  return  to  the  work  of  childhood  and 
early  boyhood,  in  order  that  they  may  yet  do  what  can 
be  done  and  retrieve  what  can  be  retrieved. 

Possibly  our  sons  may  thereby  finish  school-life  a 
year  or  two  later ;  but  is  it  not  better  that  they  should 
thereby  attain  a  worthy  aim  rather  than  (by  a  more  ex- 
peditious course)  an  illusory  one? 

We  claim  to  be  practical  men,  and  we  fail  to  un- 
derstand the  requirements  of  genuine,  true,  practical 
life.  We  claim  to  be  business  men,  and  we  vaunt  our 
prudence  and  foresight,  yet  we  do  not  comprehend 
the  business  that  concerns  us  most,  and  prudence  and 
foresight  fail  us  where  they  are  of  so  much  impor- 
tance. 

We  boast  of  our  wealth  of  experience  of  life,  and 
yet  where  it  would  yield  delicious  fruit  we  seem  to 
possess  so  little. 

We  disdain  altogether  to  examine  our  own  youth 
from  which  we  might  learn  so  much  that  would  benefit 
our  children.  Yet  this  admonition,  too,  to  turn  back 
and  observe  our  own  youth  and  to  keep  our  soul  fresh 


CONCLUSION.  331 

and  warm  in  eternal  youth,  lies  in  the  words  of  Jesus : 
"  Become  as  little  children." 

Indeed,  much  that  Jesus  said  to  his  time  and  con- 
temporaries, our  inner  spirit  now  says  to  us  and  to  our 
time.  What  was  said  at  the  time  of  Jesus,  and  more 
particularly  with  reference  to  the  beginning  of  a  wholly 
new  view  of  life,  is  now  again  spoken,  as  it  were,  to  all 
mankind,  and  finds  its  application  in  all  human  relations 
with  reference  to  the  endeavors  of  man  to  attain  a 
higher  stage  of  human  perfection.  Thus,  we  are  now 
told :  "  If  you  wiU  not  fuliill  in  yourselves  and  in  your 
children  the  spiritual  requirements  of  childhood  and 
boyhood,  if  you  will  not  secure  this  for  yourselves  and 
your  children,  you  will  not  attain  what  in  the  happiest, 
most  blissful  periods  of  your  life  caused  your  soul  to 
swell  with  hope,  what  your  heart  yearned  for  in  the 
noblest  hours  of  your  life,  what  lifts  and  ever  lifted  the 
souls,  what  tills  and  ever  filled  the  hearts  of  the  noblest 
human  beings." 

When  we  concentrate  in  one  point  the  elevation  of 
culture  which  the  human  being  has  attained  by  the  de- 
veloping education  so  far  discussed,  we  find  quite  defi- 
nitely the  following :  The  boy  has  reached  the  point  of 
divining  his  independent  spiritual  self;  he  feels  and 
knows  himself  as  a  spiritual  whole.  There  has  been 
aroused  in  him  the  ability  to  grasp  a  whole  in  its  unity 
and  in  its  diversity,  as  well  as  the  ability  to  represent 
outwardly  a  whole  as  such  and  in  its  necessary  parts,  to 
represent  in  and  through  outward  diversity  his  own  self 
in  the  unity  and  diversity  of  his  being. 

Thus,  we  find  the  human  being  even  at  the  earlier 
stages  of  boyhood  fitted  for  the  highest  and  most  im- 


332  THE  EDUCATION   OF  MAN. 

portant  concern  of  mankind,  for  the  fulfillment  of  his 
destiny  and  mission,  which  is  the  representation  of  the 
divine  nature  within  him. 

To  secure  for  this  ability  skill  and  directness,  to 
lift  it  into  full  consciousness,  to  give  it  insight  and 
clearness,  and  to  exalt  it  into  a  life  of  creative  freedom, 
is  the  business  of  the  subsequent  life  of  man  in  suc- 
cessive stages  of  development  and  cultivation.  To  dis- 
cuss ways  and  means  for  this,  and  to  introduce  these  in 
the  practice  of  life,  is  the  purpose  of  a  continuation  of 
this  work  and  of  the  author's  life. 


THE   END. 


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